ANCIENT  WORL 


WEST 


-^  


:CE  AND  THE  FACT 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT    LOS  ANGELES 


GIFT  OF 

D!l.    Ki\TE     lORDON 


ALLYN    AND    BACON'S   SERIES   OF   SCHOOL    HISTORIES 

THE 

ANCIENT    WORLD 

FROM  THE  EARLIEST  TIMES  TO  800  A.D. 
PART   I 

Greece  and  the  East 

BY 

WILLIS    MASON   WEST 


REVISED  EDITION 


ALLYN    AND    BACON 
Boston  Xclua  govk  Ci)irnga 


ALLYN    AND    BACON'S   SERIES   OF 

SCHOOL    HISTORIES 

1 2mo,  half  leather,  numerous  maps,  plans,  and  illustrations 

ANCIENT    HISTORY.     By  Willis  M.  West. 

MODERN    HISTORY.     By  Willis  M.  West. 

HISTORY    OF    ENGLAND.      By    Charles    M.    Andrews    of    Yale 
University. 

SHORT  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.     By  Charles  M.  Andrews. 

HISTORY  OF  THE    UNITED   STATES.     Revised.    By  Charles 
K.  Adams  and  William  P.  Trent  of  Columbia  University. 

THE  ANCIENT  WORLD.     Revised.    By  Willis  M.  West. 
Also  in  two  volumes:    Part    I.  Greece  and  the  East. 
Part  II.  Rome  and  the  West. 


COPYRIGHT.    1904   AND    1913, 
BY   WILLIS    MASON    WEST. 


Xortaooti  ^m^ 

J.  S.  Tushin?  V».  -  Kerwlck  &  Smith  Co. 

Norw.HMl.  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


v,l 


to 


o 


to 


FOREWORD 

My  Ancient  World  appeared  nine  years  ago.     The  generous 

welcome  given  to  it  necessitates  new  plates ;  and  I  have  taken 

advantage  of  the  opportunity  to  rewrite  the  book. 

-    In  the  nine  years,  my  own  interest  has  shifted  from  political 

liistory  to  industrial  history.     This  change,  I  believe,  has  been 

S)  general ;  and  I  trust  that  teachers  will  approve  the  correspond- 

'"  ing  change  in  the  book.     Less  space  is  given  to  "constitu- 

^  tions,"  and  more  to  industrial  and  economic  development  and 

cii  to  home  life.     INIany  generalizations,  too,  are  omitted,  to  make 

\^  room  for  more  narrative ;    and  the  publication  of  Dr.  Davis' 

Readings^  makes  it  advisable  to  omit  most  of  the  '*  illustrative 

\  extracts  "  of  the  old  volume,  except  where  they  can  be  easily 

i  woven  into  the  story. 

■«y      The  Readings  is  accountable  for  another  modification  here. 

r  That  volume  presents  much  of  the  story  of  the  ancient  peoples, 

«^  as  they  themselves  told  it,  in  so  simple  and  charming  a  manner 

as  to  make  the  best  possible  collateral  reading.     Every  high 

1^  school  pupil,  I  feel,  should  own  the  book,  or  at  least  have  easy 

J«^  access  to  copies  on  reference  shelves.^     Other  library  reference 

in  this  book  has  been  reduced,  accordingly,  to  a  minimum. 

In  the  Ancient  World  I  ventured  to  present  views  of  the 
"Mycenaeans"  and  "  Achaeans,"  which  at  that  time  were  per- 
haps somewhat  radical  for  an  elementary  text.  Subsequent 
u.  discoveries,  however,  have  fully  confirmed  them,  and  have  also 
opened  up  a  new  and  intensely  interesting  chapter  of  an  earlier 
±  Aegean  world,  besides  adding  much  to  our  knowledge  in  other 
fields  of  ancient  history.  These  new  results  I  am  glad  to  have 
a  chance  to  incorporate  here. 

It  is  doubtful  if  a  textbook  of  this  sort  should  give  room  to 

^William  Stearns  Davis,  Rpailiiifis  in  Ancient  Ili.itory.  Two  volumes: 
"  Greece  and  the  East,"  and  "  Koine  and  the  West."  Each  $!  1.00.  Allyn  and 
Kaciin. 

-  This  view,  toj^ether  with  tlie  idan  of  lil)rary  work  for  this  vohune,  is  ex- 
plained more  fnlly  on  page  U. 

iii 

r  ■»>  •  ^c,  et  ti--.  K'^ 


< 


o 


iv  FOREWORD 

any  iiurident  which  the  student  (^HiiiK^t  articmhite  with  the  life 
of  to-day  —  or  icfiirfi  is  not  e.isentuil  to  iiitderstaudin'j  the  evolu- 
tion of  important  cotiditioiis  whicli  can  be  so  articulated.  This 
principle  has  not  been  adhered  to  so  rigidly  as  to  forbid  inclu- 
sion of  stories  of  universal  human  interest,  independent  of 
time ;  but  it  has  led  to  the  omission  of  many  names  and  events 
commonly  found  in  such  a  textbook,  and  it  also  explains  the 
various  references  to  present-day  conditions.  For  allied  rea- 
sons, too,  I  have  retained  the  emphasis  of  the  former  volume 
upon  the  Hellenistic  world  and  the  Roman  imperial  world  — 
on  w^hich  our  modern  life  is  so  directly  based  —  at  some  cost 
to  the  legendary  periods  of  Greece  and  Rome. 

Perhaps  the  most  fundamental  change  is  yet  to  be  men- 
tioned. My  first  book  in  this  field  —  the  Ancient  History, 
of  twelve  years  ago  —  was  designed  avowedly  both  for  high 
schools  and  for  "more  advanced"  students.  Something  of 
the  same  sort  lingered  in  the  Ancient  World,  the  successor  of 
that  first  volume,  liut  in  writing  the  present  book  I  have 
kept  steadily  in   iniud  the  first-year  high-school  pupil. 

Several  new  maps  have  been  added;  and  the  numerous  old 
ones  have  been  made  more  serviceable  for  teaching,  and  have 
been  carefully  adapted  to  the  new  text.  The  maps  for  "  gen- 
eral reference,''  however,  still  contain  a  few  names  not  used  in 
the  text,  to  assist  the  student  in  his  outside  reading.  Through 
the  generosity  of  the  publishers,  the  book  has  been  enriched 
with  many  new  illustrations,  which,  in  numerous  cases,  give 
emphasis  to  industrial  and  social  life. 

It  is  impossible  to  catalogue  here  all  the  friends  who  have 
contributed  to  making  this  volume  better  than  the  author 
alone  could  have  made  it.  But  I  must  at  least  take  space  to 
acknowledge  my  indebtedness  to  Dr.  William  Stearns  Davis. 
Dr.  Davis  has  read  the  complete  book  in  proof  sheets.  To  his 
scholarship  I  owe  the  avoidance  of  various  errors,  and  to  his 
fine  dramatic  sense  the  inclusion  of  some  striking  incidents. 

WILLIS   MASON   WEST. 
WtNUAGO  Farm, 

•Mav.  r.ns. 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS 


List  of  Illustrations      ..,.,. 
List  ok  Maps  and  Plans  ..... 

Introduction:  Thk  T'akt  ok  Man's  Likk  to  Stidy 


PACK 

vi 

X 

1 


Cll  AFTER 

I. 

II. 

III. 

IV. 

V. 

VI. 


PART   I  — TIIK   ORIENTAL   PEOPLES 

Preliminary  Survey      .         .         .         .         .         ,         .         .11 

Kgypt 15 

Tlie  Tigris-Euphrates  States         .  ....       50 

The  Middle  States.  Phoenicians,  and  Hebrews    ,         .         .72 
The  Persian  Empire    ........       82 

Summary  of  Oriental  Civilization 92 


PART   II  — THE   GREEKS 

VII.  The  Influence  of  Geography 

VIII.  How  We  know  about  Prehistoric  Hellas 

IX.  The  First  (Cretan)  Civilization   . 

X.  The  Homeric  Age        .... 

XI.  From  the  Achaeans  to  the  Persian  Wars 

XII.  The  Persian  Wars        .... 

XIII.  Athenian  Leadership  :  The  Age  of  Pericles 

XIV.  Life  in  the  Age  of  Pericles  . 
XV.  The  Peloponnesian  War 

XVI.  From  the  Fall  of  Athens  to  the  Fall  of  Hellas,  404-:{38 


95 
101 
107 
116 
12(5 
163 
187 
230 
242 
250 


PART   III  — THE    GRAECO-ORIENTAL   WORLD 

XVII.     Mingling  of  East  and  West  —  Alexander  and  his  Conquests    263 
XVIIL     The  Widespread  Hellenistic  World 273 

Appendix  :  A  Classified  List  of  Selected  Rooks  for  a  High  School 

Library  in  History 297 

InDKX,    PuONOLNCING    V(K  ABII.AKV.     AND    M  A  I"    RkiKRKNCES     .  301 

V 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

1.  Reindeer,  drawn  by  Cave-men  in  France  an<l  in  Switzerland 

2.  Prehistoric  Stone  Daggers  from  Scandinavia 

3.  Series  of  Axes  ;  Old  Stone,  New  Stone,  and  Bronze  Ages 

4.  Some  Stages  in  Fire-making.     From  Tylor 

5.  Portion  of  the  Rosetta  Stone,  containing  the  hieroglyphs  first 

deciphered        ......... 

6.  Part  of  the  Rosetta  Inscription,  on  a  larger  .scale 

7.  Photograph  of  Modem  Egyptian  sitting  by  a  Sculptured  Head 

of  an  Ancient  King  ;  to  show  likeness  of  feature 

8.  Boatmen  fighting  on  the  Nile.     Egyptian  relief  . 

9.  A  Capital  from  Karnak.     From  Liibke       .... 

10.  Portrait  Statue  of  Amten,  a  self-made  noble  of  3200  u.c.    . 

11.  Egyptian  Noble  hunting  Waterfowl  on  the  Nile.     After  Maspero 

12.  Levying  the  Tax.     Egyptian  relief,  from  Maspero 
in.  Egyptian  Plow.     From  Rawlinson      .         .        v         .         . 

14.  Market  Scene.     An  Egyptian  relief 

!>.  Shoemakers.     Egyptian  relief,  from  Maspero     . 

lt>.  Sphinx  and  Pyramids.     From  a  photograph 

1 7.  Vertical  Section  of  the  Great  Pyramid        .... 

18.  Ra-IIotep  ;  perhaps  the  oldest  portrait  statue  in  existence 
11).    Princess  Nefert ;  a  portrait  statue  5000  years  old 

20.  Temple  of  Edfu 

21.  A  Relief  from  the  Temple  of  Hathor  at  Dendera 

22.  Egyptian  Numerals      ........ 

23.  Isis  and  Horus 

24.  Sculptured  Funeral  Couch  ;  picturing  the  soul  crouching  by  the 

mummy    .......... 

25.  A  Tomb  Painting ;  showing  offerings  to  the  dead 

vi 


PAGB 
2 

3 
4 
5 

12 

12 

17 
18 
20 
22 
23 
25 
28 
29 
30 
31 
32 
34 
34 
35 
36 
37 
38 


39 
40 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Vll 


26.  Weighing  the  Soul  before  the  Judges  of  the  Dead 

relief         ....... 

27.  Cheops  (Khufu).     A  portrait  statue  . 

28.  Sculptors  at  Work.     An  Egyptian  relief     . 

29.  Thutmosis  III 

30.  Rameses  II 

31.  Fsanimetichus  in  Hieroglyphs 

32.  Neco  in  Hieroglyphs 

33.  Nebuchadnezzar  in  Cuneiform  Cliaracters  . 

34.  Colossal  Man-beast,  from  the  Palace  of  Sargon 

35.  Assyrian  Contract  Tablet  in  Duplicate 

36.  Assyrian  Tablets;  showing  the  older  hieroglyi 

cuneiform  equivalents  in  parallel  columns 
87.    An  Assyrian  "  Book  "  .... 

38.    An  Assyrian  Dog      A  relief  on  a  clay  tablet 
30.    Assyrian  "  Deluge  Tablet  " 

40.  Assyrian  Cylinder  Seals       .... 

41.  Impression  from  a  Royal  Seal 

42.  A  Lion  Hunt.     An  Assyrian  relief 

43.  Section  of  the  Temple  of  the  Seven  Spheres  ; 

"  restoration  "  by  Rawlinson  . 

44.  Parts  of  Alphabets 

45.  Growth  of  the  Letter  A       .         .         .         , 

46.  Jerusalem  To-day,  witli  the  road  to  Bethlehem 

47.  Impression  from  a  Persian  (Cylinder  Seal    . 

48.  Persian  Queen.     A  fragment  of  a  bronze  statue 

49.  Persian  Bronze  Lion,  at  Susa 

50.  Persian  Jewelry  ...... 

51.  Scene  in  the  Vale  of  Tempo.     From  a  pliotognii))! 

52.  Bronze  Dagger  from  Mycenae,  inlaid  witli  gold 
63.   The  Gate  of  the  Lions  at  Mycenae 

54.  Mouth  of  the  Palace  Sewer  at  Knossos,  2200  h 

cotta  drain  pipes.     From  Baikie 

55.  Head  of  a  Bull.     From  a  relief  at  Kno.ssos 
50.    The  Vai)liio  Cups,  of  IKOO  (ir  2000  n.v. 


('ptian 


1  tlie 


later 


rdin£ 


to  a 


with 


terra- 


Vlll  ILLUSTRATIONS 

VAi.r. 

57.    Scroll  from  tlit;  Vaphin  fUips,  showing  stages  in  netting  and 

taming  wild  bulls.     From  I'errot  and  Chipiez         .         ,          .  109 

.58.    Vase  from  Knossos  (about  2200  it.c),  with  sea-life  ornament  .  110 

.59.    Cretan  Writing Ill 

60.  "Throne  of  Minos."     From  Baikie 112 

61.  Cooking  Utensils  ;  found  in  one  tomb  at  Knossos     .         .         .  ILS 

62.  Cretan  Vase  of  Late  Period  (1600  n.c.),  with  conventionalized 

ornament 114 

63.  Ruins  of  the  Entrance  to  the  Stadium  at  Olympia     .         .         .  120 

64.  Ruins  of  Athletic  Field  at  Delphi 1.33 

65.  Greek  Soldier     ..........  144 

66.  Ground  Plan  of  Temple  of  The.seus  at  Athens  ....  154 

67.  Doric  Column,  with  explanations.     From  the  Temple  of  The- 

seus        ...........  1.55 

68.  Ionic  Column 155 

60.    Corinthian  Column    .         ^ 165 

70.  A  Doric  Capital.     From  a  photograph  of  a  detail  of  the  I'ar- 

thenou    ...........  156 

71.  West  Front  of  the  Parthenon  To-day  ;  to  illustrate  Doric  style  158 

72.  West  Front  of  Temple  of  Victory  at  Athens  ;  to  illustrate  Ionic 

style 159 

73.  Marathon  To-day.     From  a  photograph 171 

74.  Thermopylae.     From  a  photograi)h  ......  178 

75.  The  Bay  of  Salamis.     From  a  photograph         .         .         .         .181 

76.  Pericles.     A  portrait  bust ;  now  in  the  Vatican        .         .        .  196 

77.  Side  View  of  a  Trireme.     From  an  Athenian  relief  .         .         .  197 

78.  The  Acropolis  To-day 210 

79.  Propylaea  of  the  Acropolis  To-day 211 

80.  Erechtheum  and  Parthenon 212 

81.  Figures  from  the  Parthenon  Frieze 213 

82.  Sophocles.     A  portrait  statue,  now  in  the  Lateran    .         .        .  214 

83.  Theater  of  Dionysus  at  Athens 215 

84.  Thucydides.     A  portrait  bust ;  now  in  the  Capitoline  Museum  217 

85.  The  Acropolis  as  "  restored  "  by  Lambert         ....  221 

86.  Women  at  their  Toilet.     Two  parts  of  a  vase  painting       .  224 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


IX 


87.  Greek  Women  at  their  Music.     From  a  va.se  painting 

88.  The  Disk  Thrower.     After  Myron ;  now  in  the  \'atican  . 

89.  A  Satyr,  by  Praxiteles.     (Hawthorne's  "  Marble  Faun'") 

90.  Plan  of  a  Fifth-century  Delos   House.     After  Gardiner  and 

Jevons    

91.  Greek  Girls  at  Play.     From  a  vase  painting 

92.  A  Vase  Painting  showing  Paris  enticing  away  Helen 
9.'}.  Greek  Women,  in  various  activities.     A  vase  i)ainting 
94.  A  Marber  in  Terra-cotta.     From  Bltimner 
9-5.  The  Wrestlers    ...... 

96.  School  Scenes.     A  bowl  painting 

97.  Route  of  the  Long  Walls  of  Athens.     From 

giaph      

98.  The  Hermes  of  Praxiteles 

99.  Philip  II  of  Macedon.     From  a  gold  medallion 

ander      

100.  Alexander.     From  a  gold  medallion  of  Tarsus 

101.  Alexander  in  a  Lion-hunt.     Reverse  side  of  the  above 

102.  Alexander.     The  Copenhagen  head  . 

103.  Alexander  as  Apollo.     Now  in  the  Capitol ine 

104.  The  Dying  .Gaul 

106.  Pylon  of  Ptolemy  III  at  Karnak 
]0().  Venus  of  Melos,  now  in  the  Louvre  . 

107.  The  Laocoiin  Group  ..... 


a  recent  photo 


struck  by 


(Vlex 


j'ai;e 
225 

226 

227 

2.31 
233 
234 
236 
237 
238 
240 

248 
254 

260 
264 
264 
265 
269 
274 
276 
288 
290 


MAPS  AND   PLANS 


PAOK 


1.  The  Field  of  Ancient  History 8 

2.  The  First  Homes  of  Civilization.     P'uU  page,  colored           after  12 

3.  Ancient  Eirypt 16 

4.  Egyptian  Empire  at  its  Greatest  Extent 45 

6.   Assyrian  and  Babylonian  Empire 55 

6.  Syria,  showing  Dominion  of  Solomon  and  Other  Features  of 

Hebrt'W  History "7 

7.  Lydia,  Media,  Egypt,  and  Babylonia,  about  .".(K)  n.c.     Full  page, 

colored after  82 

8.  The  Persian  Empire.     Full  page,  colored   .         .         .           after  84 
0.    (Ireece  and  the  Adjoining  Coasts.     Double  page,  colored     after  94 

10.  The  Greek  Peninsula.     Double  page,  colored      .         .           after  98 

11.  The  Greek  World.      (For  general  reference.)      Double  page, 

colored after  132 

12.  Peloponnesian  League 165 

13.  Plan  of  Marathon 170 

14.  Attica,  with  reference  to  Marathon  and  Salamis        .        .        .  180 

15.  Athens  and  its  Ports,  showing  the  "  Long  Walls*'      .         .         .189 
It).    Athenian  Empire.     Full  page,  colored        .         .         .           after  198 

17.  Plan  of  Athens 202 

18.  The  Acropolis  at  Athens 209 

lit.    Greece  at  the  Beginning  of  the  Peloponnesian  War.     Full  page. 

colored after  246 

20.  Plan  of  the  Battle  of  Leuctra 256 

21.  Greece  under  Theban  Supremacy.     Full  page,  colored         after  258 

22.  The  Growth  of  Macedonia 261 

"23.    Campaigns  and  Empire  of  Alexander  the  Great.     Full  page, 

colored after  266 

24.  The  .Vchaean  and  Aetolian  Leagues 283 

25.  The  World  according  to  Eratosthenes 293 

X 


PART   I 

Greece  and  the  East 


THE    ANCIENT    WORLD 


INTRODUCTION 

THE    PART   OF   MAN'S   LIFE   TO    STUDY 

Through  the  ages  one  increasing  purpose  runs, 
And  the  thoughts  of  men  nrr  widened  with  the  process  of  the  suns. 

—  Tksnyson. 

1.  The  first  men  had  no  liistory.  They  lived  a  savage  life, 
more  backward  and  heli)less  than  the  lowest  savages  in  the 
world  to-day.  They  had  not  even  tire,  or  knife,  or  bow  and 
arrow.  In  thoughts  and  acts  they  were  brutelike ;  and  in 
brain  power  they  were  only  a  little  above  the  beasts  about 
them.  Their  chief  desires  Avere  to  satisfy  hunger,  to  keep 
warm,  and  to  outwit  more  powerful  animals.  Through  thou- 
sands on  thousands  of  years,  man  has  been  lifting  himself  from 
this  earliest  savagery  to  our  many-sided  civilization. 

Civilization  is  the  opposite  of  savagery.  To  raise  regular  food  crops, 
instead  of  depending  upon  hunting  and  fishing  or  upon  nuts  and  wild 
rice,  was  a  great  step  toward  civilization.  To  learn  to  use  oar  and  sail, 
to  work  mines,  to  build  roads  and  canals,  to  exchange  the  products  of 
one  region  for  those  of  another,  to  invent  tools  and  machinery  —  the  spin- 
ning wheel,  the  threshing  machine,  the  locomotive,  the  dynamo  —all 
these  things  were  steps.  But  civilization  includes  more  than  these 
material  gains  :  it  includes  all  improvements  that  make  men  better  and 
happier.  It  has  to  do  with  mental  growth,  with  art,  literature,  man- 
ners, morals,  home  life,  religion,  laws,  education.  The  civilization  of  a 
people  is  the  sum  of  its  advances  in  all  these  lines,  material,  intellectual. 
and  moral. 

1 


PREHISTORIC  AGES 


I§1 


The  first  steps  upward  were  probably  the  slowest  and  most 
stumbling.  We  know  little  about  them.  No  people  leaves 
written  records  until  it  has  advanced  a  long  way  from  primi- 
tive savagery.  And  so  we  cannot  tell  just  how  men  came  to 
invent  the  bow,  or  how  they  came  to  use  stone  heads  for  their 
arrows,  and  stone  knives,  and  stone  axes ;  or  how  they  found 
a  way  to  make  fire,  and  to  bake  clay  pots  in  which  to  cook 
food  ;  or  how  they  tamed  the  dog  and  cow ;  gr  how  they 
learned  to  live  together  in  families  and  tribes.     These  i)recious 


Reindeer,  by  Cave-Dwellers  (Old  Stone  Age). 
On  slate,  in  France.  On  horn,  in  Switzerland. 

(For  some  thousands  of  years,  the  reindeer  has  been  extinct  in  these  countries. 
Compare  these  drawings  with  modern  pictures  for  accuracy  of  detail ;  and  note 
the  remarkable  spirit  and  action  depicted  by  the  prehistoric  artists.) 


beginnings  were  doubtless  found  and  lost  and  found  again 
many  times  in  different  regions ;  but  before  history  begins 
anywhere,  they  had  become  the  common  property  of  many 
races. 

However,  though  we  shall  never  know  the  full  story  of  these 
gains,  we  do  know  something  of  the  order  in  which  they  came 
about.  Embedded  in  the  soil,  sometimes  many  feet  below  the 
present  surface,  there,  are  found  relics  of  early  man,  —  tools, 
weapons,  drawings  on  ivory  t\isks,  and  the  bones  of  animals 
which  he  ate  or  by  which  he  was  eaten.'     Sometimes  such  re- 

1  Some  of  these  companions  of  early  man  are  now  wholly  extinct,  like  the 
huge  mammoth,  the  tierce  cave-bear,  and  the  terrible  saber-toothed  tiger. 
Geologists,  however,  find  skeletons  of  these  animals,  corresponding  closely 
witli  tlie  drawings  of  prehistoric  artists. 


§2] 


STEPS  IN  PROGRESS 


mains  are  found  in  caves,  where  primitive  man  made  his  home; 
sometimes,  in  refuse  heaps  where  he  cast  the  remnants  from 
his  food ;  sometimes  in  the  gravel  of  old  river  beds  where  he 
fished.  As  a  rule  in  such  deposits,  the  lowest  layers  of  soil 
contain  the  rudest  sort  of  tools,  while  higher  layers  contain 
similar  remains  some- 
wliat  less  primitive. 
P>y  the  study  of  many 
thousands  of  these  de- 
posits, scholars  have 
learned  how  one  tool  de- 
veloped out  of  another 
simpler  one,  and  have 
been  able  to  trace  many 
of  the  steps  by  which 
man  rose  from  savagery. 
This  study,  then,  gives 
us  a  series  of  pictures 
of  the  life  of  primitive 
man ;  but  we  cannot  get 
a  continuous  story  from 
it.  It  is  quite  apart 
from  history.  All  this 
early  time,  until  man 
begins  to  leave  written 
records  of  his  life,  is 
called  ju'eli I'storic. 

2.  Prehistoric  time  is  conveniently  divided  into  the  Old 
Stone  Age,  the  New  Stone  Age,  and  the  Bronze  Age,  according 
to  the  material  from  which  tools  were  made.  In  the  first 
period,  arrow  heads  ami  knives  were  pieces  of  flint  merely 
chipped  roughly  to  give  them  a  sort  of  edge.  The  New  Stone 
Age  begins  when  men  learned  to  give  these  stone  weapons  a 
truer  edge  and  more  polished  form  by  grinding  them  with 
other  stones.  The  men  of  this  age  possessed  flocks  and  herds. 
They  knew  how  to  till  the  soil,  to  spin  and  weave,  to  make 


I'HKIilSToUIC    STONK    DACiUEKS    KK(JM 

Scandinavia. 


PliKHISTORK'    AT.RS 


[§2 


pottery  and  decorate  it,  and  in  somt',  places,  before  tlic  close  of 
the  long  period,  to.bnild  cities  witli  ininicnse  palaces  and 
temjjles  of  stone  or  sun-])ake(l  brick.  ( !omnionly  they  buried 
their  dead  with  food  and  tools  in  the  grave.  This  indicates 
that  they  had  come  to  believe  in  a  futur?  life,  somewhat  like 
the  cue  on  earth. 

At  last,  perhaps  by  a  lucky  accident,  some  Stone  Age  man 
found  that   tire  would  sej)aratc  copper   from  the   ore.     Now 

better  tools  were  possible,  and  a 
more  rapid  advance  began.  But 
copper  tools  were  still  clumsy  and 
quickly  lost  their  edge.  Soon 
men  learned  to  mix  a  little  tin 
with  the  copper  in  the  fire.  This 
formed  a  metal  we  call  bronze. 
Bronze  is  easily  worked,  and 
after  cooling,  it  is  much  harder 
than  either  of  its  parts  alone. 
The  men  of  the  Bronze  Age 
equipped  themselves  with  tools 
and  weapons  of  keener  and  more 
lasting  edge,  and  more  convenient 
form,  than  ever  before.  With 
these,  they  easily  conquered  the 
more  poorly  armed  Stone  Age 
men  about  them,  and  also  added  to  their  own  physical  comfort. 
The  use  of  bronze  seems  to  have  developed  independently 
in  various  centers ;  and  by  war  and  trade,  it  spread  over  wide 
regions. 

Finally,  men  learned  to  smelt  and  use  iron.  This  marked  a 
still  greater  advance,  —  the  most  important  gain  after  the  dis- 
covery of  tire.  By  the  0})ening  of  the  Iron  Age,  or  soon  after- 
ward, man  has  usually  invented  or  adopted  an  alphabet,  and 
his  history  proper  has  begun.  Sometimes,  as  with  the  peoples 
we  shall  study  first,  history  begins  long  before  the  close  of  the 
Bronze  Ajie. 


Skiuks  ok  ,\.\ks: 

/  anil  :',  Olil  Stone  A^f,  .'l.  New 
Stone ;  •/,  Hron/.e  Afje. 


3] 


CONTRIBUTIONS  TO   CIVILIZATION 


Men  have  advanced  at  different  rates  in  different  parts  of  the  earth. 
When  Columbus  discovered  America,  all  the  natives  of  the  Western 
Hemisphere  were  in  some  part  of  the  Stone  Age,  —  as  are  still  some 
remote  tribes  in  our  Philippines  and  in  parts  of  South  America,  Africa, 
and  Australia.  But  in  the  valleys  of  the  Nile  and  Euphrates,  the  peo- 
ples we  are  first  to  study  had  risen  out  of  this  stage  at  least  7000  years 
ago.  Even  among  the  same  people,  the  different  "ages"  overlapped. 
Nobles  and  leaders  used  bronze  weapons,  while  the  poorer  classes  had 
still  only  their  stone  implements. 

3.  Our  Inheritance  from  Prehistoric  Man.  —  We  are  in  position 
now  to  appreciate  dimly   how  the  earliest  civilization  rested 


SOMK   STACiKS   IN   FlRK-M.VKIN(i. —  From  Xylol'. 

upon  the  unrecorded  strivings  of  primitive  man  through  un- 
counted thousands  of  years.  Five  prehistoric  contributions 
are  so  supremely  important  as  to  deserve  special  mention. 

a.  The  use  of  fire  seems  to  have  been  the  thing  that  first  set 
man  distinctly  above  other  animals.  Witliout  fire,  he  was 
limited  to  raw  food  and  to  stone  implements.  The  Story  of  Ab  ^ 
pictui-es  a  youth  of  the  Stone  Age  discovering  the  use  of 
fire  from  a  burning  natural  gas  (presumably  set  aflame  by 
lightning).  Other  scholars  have  guessed  that  the  first  source 
of  fire  was  volcanic  lava,  or  a  tree  trunk  ablaze  from  lightning. 
Certainly,  at  some  early  period  of  the  Old  Stone  Age,  man  had 
conquered  that  dread  of  flame  which  all  wild  animals  sliow  and 
had  come  to  know  fire  as  his  truest  friend.     Charred  fragments 

1  This  little  book  by  Stanley  Waterloo  is  an  admirable  attempt  to  portray 
some  of  the  steps  iu  early  human  progress  in  the  form  of  a  story.  It  will  be 
enjoyed  by  any  high  school  boy  or  girl. 


6  PREHISTORIC  AGES  [§  3 

of  bone  and  wood  are  conuuon  amon^'  the  earliest  human  de- 
posits. One  of  the  oldest  tools  in  the  world  is  the  "  fire-borer," 
a  hard  stick  of  wood  with  which  man  started  a  tire  by  boring 
into  a  more  inflammable  wood.  The  methods  of  making  tire 
which  are  pictured  on  the  preceding  page  were  all  invented  by 
prehistoric  man  ;  and  the  stick  and  bow-string  was  the  best 
way  known  to  any  of  the  great  historic  nations  that  we  shall 
study  in  this  book. 

h.  Most  of  the  domestic,  animals  familiar  to  us  in  the  barn- 
yard or  on  the  farm  had  been  tamed  into  useful  friends  by  pre- 
historic man.  The  Asiatic  lands  where  civilization  began  were 
their  native  homes.  This,  no  doubt,  is  one  great  reason  why 
civilization  began  in  those  lands, — just  as  the  almost  total 
lack  of  animals  fit  for  domestic  life  is  a  reason  why  the  Ameri- 
can hemisphere  remained  backward  until  discovered  by  the 
Old  World. 

c.  Wheat,  barley,  rice,  and  nearly  all  our  important  food 
grains  and  garden  vegetables  were  tamed  also  by  the  prehis- 
toric man  of  Asia.  Out  of  the  myriads  of  wild  plants,  all  our 
marvelous  progress  in  science  has  failed  to  reveal  even  one 
other  in  the  Old  World  so  useful  to  man  as  those  which  pre- 
historic man  selected  for  cultivation.  Their  only  rivals  are 
the  potato  and  maize  (Indian  corn),  which  the  Xew  World 
aborigines,  in  the  stage  of  savagery,  selected  for  cultivation. 

d.  Language  is  one  of  the  most  precious  parts  of  our  inheri- 
tance from  the  ages.  It  is  not  merely  the  means  by  which  we 
exchange  ideas  with  one  another :  it  is  also  the  means  by 
which  we  do  our  thinking.  No  high  order  of  thought  is  pos- 
sible without  words.  Some  very  primitive  savages  to-day  have 
only  a  few  words.  They  can  count  only  by  fingers  and  toes  or 
by  bundles  of  sticks,  and  they  communicate  with  one  another 
somewhat  as  the  higher  animals  do.  In  the  dark  they  can 
hardly  talk  at  all.  The  first  word-making  is  slow  work ;  but 
through  the  long  prehistoric  ages,  among  the  more  progressive 
peoples,  there  were  developed  from  rude  beginnings  several 
rich  and  copious  languages. 


§4]  CONTRIBUTIONS   TO   CIVILIZATION  7 

e.  77ie  'invention  of  tvriting  multiplied  the  value  of  language. 
Not  only  is  it  an  "  artiticial  memory  " ;  it  also  enables  us  to 
speak  to  those  who  are  far  away,  and  even  to  those  who  are 
not  yet  born.  AEany  early  peoples  used  a  j)icture  ivriting  such 
as  is  common  still  among  North  American  Indians.  In  this 
kind  of  writing,  a  picture  represents  either  an  object  or  some 
idea  connected  with  that  object.  A  drawing  of  an  animal  with 
wings  may  stand  for  a  bird  or  for  flying ;  or  a  character  like 
this  0  stands  for  either  the  sun  or  for  light.  At  first  such 
pictures  are  true  drawings  :  later  they  are  simplified  into  forms 
agreed  upon.  Thus  in  ancient  Chinese,  man  was  represented 
by  7*^,  and  in  modern  Chinese  by  /\« 

Vastly  important  is  the  advance  to  a  rebus  stage  of  writing. 
Here  a  symbol  has  come  to  have  a  sound  value  wholly  apart 
from  the  original  object,  as  if  the  symbol  ©  above  were  used 
for  the  second  syllable  in  delight.  So  in  early  Egyptian  writ- 
ing, o,  the  symbol  for  "mouth,"  was  pronounced  rii.  There- 
fore it  was  used  as  the  last  syllable  in  writing  the  word  Tchopirtl, 
which  meant  "  to  be,"  while  symbols  of  other  objects  in  like 
manner  stood  for  the  other  syllables. 

This  representation  of  sj/Uables  by  pictures  of  objects  is  the 
tirst  stage  in  sound  writing,  as  distinguished  from  picture  writ- 
ing proper.  Finally,  some  of  these  characters  are  used  to 
represent  not  whole  syllables,  but  single  sounds.  One  of 
Kipling's  Just  ISo  stories  illustrates  how  such  a  change  might 
come  about.  Then,  if  these  characters  are  kept  and  all  others 
dropped,  we  have  a  true  alphabet.  Picture  writing,  such  as 
that  of  the  Chinese,  requires  many  thousand  symbols.  Several 
hundred  characters  are  necessary  for  even  simple  syllabic  writ- 
ing. But  a  score  or  so  of  letters  are  enough  for  an  alpha- 
bet. Several  primitive  peoples  developed  their  writing  to  the 
syllabic  stage ;  and  about  1000  b.c,  in  various  districts  about 
the  eastern  Mediterranean,  ali)habetic  writing  apjieared. 

4.  The  Field  of  History.  —  History  is  the  story  of  the  re- 
corded life  of  man.  But  even  when  we  leave  out  prehistoric 
ages,  there  is  still  too  much  human  life  for  us  to  study  properly. 


8 


THE   FIELD   OP"  ANCIENT   HISTORY 


[§4 


We  (!annot  deal  with  all  historic  peoples.  AVe  must  narrow 
the  field.  We  care  most  to  know  of  those  peoples  whose  life 
has  borne  fruit  for  our  own  life.  We  shall  study  that  part  of 
the  recorded  pafit  which  explains  our  present. 

Thus  we  bound  our  study  in  space  as  well  as  in  time.  We 
omit,  for  instance,  the  ancient  civilizations  of  the  Chinese  and 
Hindoos,  because  they  have  not  much  affected  our  progress. 


The  Field  of  Axcient  History,  to  800  a.d. 


Until  after  Columbus,  our  interest  centers  in  Europe.  And 
when  we  look  for  the  early  peoples  who  shaped  European  life, 
we  see  three  preeminent,  —  the  Greeks,  the  Romans,  and  the 
Teutons. 

Ancient  Historif  deals  especially  with  these  three  peoples, 
from  their  earliest  records  until  their  separate  stories  become 
merged  in  one.  By  800  a.d.  this  merging  has  taken  place. 
Then  ancient  history  may  be  said  to  cease  and  modern  history 


to  begin. 


This  book  will  deal  only  with  ancient  history. 


§  4]  AND   THE   PEOPLES  9 

Of  these  three  chief  peoples  of  ancient  Europe  the  Greeks 
were  the  first  to  rise  to  civilized  life.  But  the  civilization  of 
the  Greeks  was  not  wholly  their  own.  It  was  partly  shaped 
by  certain  older  civilizations  outside  Europe,  near  the  eastern 
shores  of  the  Mediterranean.  The  history  of  these  Oriental 
peoples  covered  thousands  of  years;  but  we  shall  view  only 
fragments  of  it,  and  we  do  that  merely  by  way  of  introduction 
to  Greek  history.  Oriental  history  is  a  sort  of  dim  anteroom 
through  which  we  pass  to  European  history. 

One  of  the  Oriental  peoples,  the  Hebrews,  has  been  a  mighty  influence 
in  our  highest  life.  They  are  not  here  counted  a  fourth  among  the  great 
historic  races,  because,  after  all,  their  influence  came  to  us  largely  through 
Greece  and  Rome.  They  will,  however,  receive  particular  attention 
among  the  Oriental  peoples. 

TJie  Jiekl  of  ancient  history,  then,  is  small,  compared  with 
the  world  of  our  day.  It  was  limited,  of  course,  to  the  Eastern 
hemisphere,  and  covered  only  a  small  part  of  that.  At  its 
greatest  extent,  it  reached  north  only  through  Central  Europe, 
east  through  less  than  a  third  of  Asia,  and  south  through  only 
a  small  part  of  Northern  Africa.  Over  even  this  territory  it 
spread  very  slowly,  from  much  more  limited  areas.  For  the 
first  four  thousand  years,  it  did  not  reach  Europe  at  all. 


No  Further  Reading  is  suggested,  at  tliis  stage,  in  connection  with  the 
class  work  on  the  preceding  topics.  But  students  who  wish  to  ri-ad 
further  for  their  own  pleasure  will  find  treatments  which  they  will  enjoy 
and  understand  in  any  of  the  following  books :  Mason,  Woman's  Share, 
in  Primitive  Culture;  Keary,  Dawn  of  History ;  Starr,  So7ne  Fimt 
Steps  in  Human  Progress;  Joly,  Man  before  Metals;  Clodd,  Stoi'y  of 
the  Alphabet;  Clodd,  Stori/  of  Primitive  Man. 

General  Suggestions  for  Library  Work   in  Anciknt  History 

The  appearance  of  William  Stearns  Davis'  Jfcadings  in  Ancient  His- 
tory puts  the  matter  of  high  school  work  in  tlie  library  on  a  new  basis. 
As  a  result,  the  author  of  the  present  textbook  will  confine  his  special 
suggestions  for  library  work  in  (ireek  history  (up  to  the  ]ieriod  of  Alex- 


10  THE   FIELD   OP  ANCIENT   HISTORY  [§  4 

ander)  to  the  Readings  and  to  one  other  single-volume  work,  —  J.  B. 
Bury's  History  of  Greece,  —  with  occasional  alternalives  suggested  for  the 
latter.  While  it  is  desirable  that  every  student  should  possess  a  copy  of 
the  Headings,  in  cases  where  that  is  impossible,  from  live  to  twenty  copies 
of  these  two  works  (according  to  the  size  of  classes)  will  equip  the  school 
library  fairly  well  for  the  work. 

In  like  manner,  for  Rome  (to  the  Empire),  the  Headings  and  either 
Pelham's  Outlines  of  Roman  ITistory  or  How  and  Leigh's  History  afford 
satisfactory  material.  For  Oriental  history,  there  is  no  one  satisfactory 
volume  to  go  with  the  Readings  ;  but  library  work  is  less  important  for 
that  period.  Unfortunately,  single  volumes  of  the  right  sort  are  missing 
also  for  the  important  periods  of  later  Greek  history  and  of  the  Roman 
Empire.  So  far  as  possible,  however,  the  suggestions  for  reading  on  those 
periods,  too,  follow  this  same  principle.  The  select  bibliography  in  the 
appendix  names  a  few  more  of  the  most  desirable  volumes  for  high  school 
students. 


PART    I 

THE   ORIENTAL   PEOPLES 

Two  vast  and  trunkless  legs  of  stone 
Stand  in  the  desert.     Near  them,  on  the  sand, 
Half-sunk,  a  shattered  visage  lies. 

And  on  the  pedestal,  these  words  appear  : 

^^  My  name  i.s  Ozymnudias.  king  of  kings 

Look  on  my  works.  Yr  Mighty,  and  despair  T' 

Nothing  beside  rerimins.     Bound  the  decay 

Of  that  colossal  ii^reck,  boundless  and  bare. 

The  lone  and  level  satids  stretch  far  away.  —  Shelley, 


CHAPTER   I 

A   PRELIMINARY   SURVEY 

5  The  Rediscovery  of  Early  History.  —  Until  about  a  century 
ago  very  little  was  known  about  the  ancient  history  of  the 
East.  There  were  only  tlie  brief  statements  of  Hebrew  writers 
in  the  Old  Testament  and  some  stories  preserved  by  the 
Greeks.  In  the  Nile  valley  there  had  been  found  a  few  an- 
cient inscriptions,  carved  upon  stone  in  unknown  characters, 
but  no  one  could  read  them. 

But,  about  1800  a.d.,  some  soldiers  of  Napoleon  in  Egypt, 
while  laying  foundations  for  a  fort  at  the  Rosetta  mouth  of 
the  Nile  (map,  page  16),  found  a  curious  slab  of  black  rock. 
This  "Rosetta  Stone"  bore  three  inscriptions:  one  of  these 
was  in  Greek ;  one,  in  the  ancient  hieroglyphs  of  the  pyramids 
(§  22) ;  and  the  tliird,  in  a  later  Egyptian  writing,  which  had 
likewise    been    forgotten.     A    French    scholar,    Champollion, 

U 


12  THE   ORIENTAL  PEOPLES  [§  5 

guessed  shrewdly  that  the  three  inscriptions  all  told  the  same 
story  and  used  many  of  the  same  words ;  and  in  1822  he  proved 
this  to  be  true.  Then,  by  means  of  the  Greek,  he  found  the 
meaning  of  the  other  characters,  and  so  learned  to  read  the  long- 

^i;^::ESS?;r..''r;1?J5!t:tIil1+?;j!=:-S;siS'i<:)il-< 

i*fi;vm:Jl/+i*°i;;£2r;'.iL8.T.uvAY-v;£:£'a£*^2n:ibt'?iis;tri 

«^€Ct3s:SIl:•c:r<'lkSS^^■^»o^4i■:i>?•Fi^°i^ar^r::S+vt,^5^Tl^ssx^^ 


Portion  of  Rosktta  Stonk,  coiitaiuiiiij  the  hieroglyphs  first  deciphered. 
From  Enniiirs  Life  in  Ancient  Egypt. 

forgotten  language  of  old  Egypt.     Soon  afterward  a  like  task 
was  accomplished  for  the  old  Assyrian  language  (§  75,  note). 

At  first  there  was  little  to  read;  but  a  new  interest  had 
been  aroused,  and,  about  1850,  scholars  began  extensive  ex- 
plorations in  the  East.     Sites  of  forgotten  cites,  buried  beneath 


Part  ov  thk  Above  Inscription,  on  a  larger  scale. 


desert  sands,  were  rediscovered.  Many  of  them  contained  great 
libraries  on  papyrus,^  or  on  stone  and  brick.  A  part  of  these 
have  been  translated ;  and  since  1880  the  results  have  begun 
to  appear  in  our  books.  The  explorations  are  still  going  on  ; 
and  very  recent  years  have  been  the  most  fruitful  of  all  in  dis- 
coveries. 

1  The  papyrus  was  a  reed  which  grew  abundantly  in  the  Nile  and  the 
Euphrates  rivers.  From  slices  of  its  stem  a  kind  of  "  paper  "  was  prepared 
by  laying  them  together  crosswise  and  pressing  them  into  a  smooth  sheet. 
Our  word  "  paper"  comes  from  "papyrus." 


§7]  THE    CENTERS  OF  CIVILIZATION  13 

6.  The  Two  Centers.  —  The  first  homes  of  civilization  were 
Egypt  and  Chaldea,  —  the  lower  valleys  of  the  Nile  and  the 
Euphrates.  In  the  Euphrates  valley  the  wild  wheat  and  bar- 
ley afforded  abundant  food,  with  little  effort  on  the  part  of 
man.  The  Xile  valley  had  the  marvelous  date  palm  and  va- 
rious grains.  In  each  of  these  lands  there  grew  up  a  dense 
population,  and  so  part  of  the  people  were  able  to  give  atten- 
tion to  other  matters  than  getting  food  from  day  to  day. 

In  a  straight  line,  Egypt  and  Chaldea  were  some  eight  luui- 
dred  miles  apart.  Practically,  the  distance  was  greater.  The 
only  route  fit  for  travel  ran  along  two  sides  of  a  triangle,  — 
north  from  Egypt,  between  the  mountain  ranges  of  western 
Syria,  to  the  upper  waters  of  the  Euphrates,  and  then  down 
the  course  of  that  river. 

Except  upon  this  Syrian  side,  Egypt  and  Chaldea  were  shut 
off  from  other  desirable  countries.  In  Asia,  civilizations  rose 
at  an  early  date  in  China  and  in  India  (§*4);  but  they  were 
separated  from  Chaldea  by  vast  deserts  and  lofty  mountains. 
In  Africa,  until  Roman  days,  there  was  no  great  civilization  ex- 
cept the  Egyptian,  unless  we  count  the  Abyssinian  on  the 
south  (map  on  page  16).  The  Abyssinians  were  brave  and 
warlike,  and  they  seem  to  have  drawn  some  culture  from 
Egypt.  But  a  desert  extended  between  Abyssinia  and  Egypt, 
a  twelve-day  march;  and  intercourse  by  the  river  was  cut  off 
by  long  series  of  cataracts  and  rocky  gorges.  *  It  was  hard  for 
trade  caravans  to  travel  from  one  country  to  the  other,  and  ex- 
tremely hard  for  armies  to  do  so.  To  the  west  of  Egypt  lay 
the  Sahara,  stretching  across  the  continent,  —  an  immense,  in- 
hospitable tract.  On  the  north  and  east  lay  the  Mediterranean 
and  the  Red  Sea;  and  these  broad  moats  were  bridged  only  at 
one  point  by  the  isthmus. 

7.  Syria  a  Third  Center.'  —  Thus,  with  sides  and  rear  pro- 
tected, Egypt  faced  Asia  across  the  narrow  Isthmus  of  Suez. 

1  The  term  "  Syria  "  is  used  with  a  varyinjj  meaning.  In  a  narrow  sense, 
as  in  this  jiassage,  it  means  only  the  coast  region.  In  a  broader  use,  it  applies 
to  all  the  country  between  the  Mediterranean  and  the  Euphratea. 


14  THE   ORIENTAL  PEOPLES  [§  7 

Here,  too,  the  region  bordering  Egypt  was  largely  desert;  but 
farther  north,  between  the  desert  and  the  sea,  lay  a  strip  of 
habitable  land.  This  Syrian  region  became  the  trade  exchange 
and  battle-ground  of  the  two  great  states,  and  drew  civilization 
from  them. 

Syria  was  itself  a  nursery  of  warlike  peoples.  Here  dwelt 
the  Phoenicians,  Philistines,  Canaanites,  Hebrews,  and  Hit- 
tites,  whom  we  hear  of  in  the  Bible.  Usually  all  these  peoples 
were  tributary  ^  to  Egypt  or  Chaldea;  and  from  those  countries 
they  drew  their  civilization.  Despite  Syria's  perilous  position 
on  the  road  from  Africa  to  Asia,  its  inhabitants  might  have 
kept  their  independence,  if  they  could  have  united  against 
their  common  foes.  But  rivers  and  ranges  of  mountains  broke 
the  country  up  into  five  or  six  districts,  all  small,  and  each 
hostile  to  the  others.  At  times,  however,  when  both  the  great 
powers  were  weak,  there  did  arise  independent  Syrian  king- 
doms, like  that  of  the  Jews  under  David. 


1  A  tributary  country  is  one  which  is  subject  to  some  other  country,  with- 
out being  absolutely  joined  to  it.  The  "  tributary  "  pays  "  tribute  "  and  rec- 
ognizes the  authority  of  the  superior  country,  but  for  most  purposes  it  keeps 
its  own  government. 


CHAPTER    II 

EGYPT 

GEOGRAPHY 

Erjypt  as  a  geographical  expression  is  two  things  —  the  Desert  and  the 
Nile.     As  a  habitable  country,  it  is  only  one  thing  —  the  Xile. 

—  Alfred  Milnek. 

8.  The  Land.  —  Ancient  Egypt,  by  the  map,  included  about 
as  much  laud  as  Colorado  or  Italy ;  but  seven  eighths  of  it  was 
only  a  sandy  border  to  the  real  Egypt,  The  real  Egypt  is  the 
valley  and  delta  of  the  Nile  —  from  the  cataracts  to  the  sea. 
It  is  smaller  than  Maryland,  and  falls  into  two  natural  parts. 

Upper  Egypt  is  the  valley  proper.  It  is  a  strip  of  rich  soil 
about  six  hundred  miles  long  and  usually  about  ten  miles  wide 
—  a  slim  oasis  between  parallel  ranges  of  desolate  hills  (map, 
page  16).  For  the  remaining  hundred  miles,  the  valley  broadens 
suddenly  into  the  delta.  This  Lower  Egyjit  is  a  squat  triangle, 
resting  on  a  two-hundred-mile  base  of  curving  coast  where 
marshy  lakes  meet  the  sea. 

9.  The  Nile.  —  The  ranges  of  hills  that  bound  the  "  valley  '' 
were  originally  the  banks  of  a  mightier  Xile,  which,  in  early 
ages,  cut  out  a  gorge  from  the  solid  limestone  for  the  future 
"valley."  The  ''delta"  has  been  built  up  out  of  the  mud 
which  the  stream  has  carried  out  and  deposited  on  the  old  sea 
bottom. 

And  what  the  river  has  made,  it  sustains.  This  was  Avhat 
the  Greeks  meant  when  they  called  Egypt  ''the  gift  of  the 
Nile."  Rain  rarely  falls  in  the  valley;  and  toward  the  close 
of  the  eight  cloudless  months  before  the  annual  overflow,  there 
is  a  brief  period  when  the  land  seems  gasping  for  moisture,  — 
"only  half  alive,  waiting  the  new  Nile."     The  river  begins  to 

15 


16 


ECxYPT 


(§10 


rise  in  July,  swollen  by  tropical  rains  at  its  upper  course  in 
distant  Abyssinia;  and  it  does  not  fully  recede  into  its  regular 
channel  until  November.  During  the  days  while  the  flood  is 
at  its  height,  Egypt  is  a  sheet  of  turbid  water,  spreading  be- 
tween two  lines  of 
rock  and  sand. 
The  waters  are 
dotted  with  towns 
and  villages,  and 
marked  off  into 
compartments  by 
raised  roads,  run- 
ning from  town  to 
town ;  w^hile  from 
a  sandy  plateau, 
at  a  distance,  the 
pyramids  look 
down  upon  the 
scene,  as  they  have 
done  each  season 
for  five  thousand 
years.  As  the 
water  retires,  the 
rich  loam  dressing, 
brought  down  from 
the  hills  of  Ethi- 
opia, is  left  spread 
over  the  fields,  re- 
iiewing  their  won- 
derful fertility 
from  year  to  year ; 
while  the  long  soaking  supplies  moisture  to  the  soil  for  the 
dry  months  to  come. 

10.  The  Inhabitants.  —  The  oldest  records  yet  found  in 
p]gypt  reach  back  to  about  5000  b.c.  At  that  time  the  use 
of  bronze  was  already   well  advanced.     Kemains  in  the  soil 


10] 


THE  NILE 


17 


show  that  there  had  been  earlier  dwellers  using  rude  stone 
implements  and  practising  savage  customs.  How  many  thou- 
sands of  years  it  took  for  this  savagery  to  develop  into  the 
culture  of  5000  b.c.  we  do  not  know. 

Culture  is  almost  a  synonym  for  civilization;  but  it  is  also  used  in  a  some- 
what broader  sense,  to  include  the  stages  of  savagery  and  barbarism  that 
precede  true  civilization.  It  is  common  to  speak  of  the  invention  of  pot- 
tery as  the  point  at  which  savagery  passes  into  barbarism,  and  the  inven- 
tion of  the  alphabet  as  the  transition  from  barbarism  to  civilization. 


Photograph  of  a  Modern  Egyptian  Woman  sitting  by  a  Sculpturkd 
Head  of  an  Ancient  Kino.  —  From  Maspero's  Dawn  of  C'ivilizatioji. 
Notice  the  likeness  of  feature.  The  skulls  of  the  modem  peasants  and  of 
the  ancient  nobles  are  remarkably  alike  in  form. 

Probably  the  cheap  food  of  the  valley  attracted  tribes  from 
all  the  neighboring  regions  at  an  early  date.  The  struggles  of 
these  peoples,  and  the  intermingling  of  the  strongest  of  them, 
at  length  produced  the  vigorous  Egyptian  race  of  history. 
That  race  contained  the  blood  of  Abyssinian,  Berber,*  Negro, 

1  The  Berbers  are  the  short  dark  race  of  North  Africa  from  whom  the 

Moors  are  descended. 


18 


EGYPT 


[§11 


and  Arabian,  and  possibly  of  other  peoples;  but  before  the  be- 
ginning of  history  these  had  all  been  welded  into  one  type 
which  has  lasted  to  the  present  day. 

11.  Growth  of  a  Kingdom.  —  The  first  inhabitants  lived  by 
fishing  along  the  streams  and  hunting  fowl  in  the  marshe? 
When  they  began  to  take  advantage  of  their  rare  opportunity 
for  agriculture,  new  problems  arose.  Before  that  time,  each 
tribe  or  village  could  be  a  law  to  itself.  But  now  it  became 
necessary  for  whole  districts  to  combine  in  order  to  drain 
marshes,  to  create  systems  of  ditches  for  the  distribution  of 


^^■^t.:-:~^^W.. 


BoATMEX  FIGHTING  ON  THE  NiLE.  —  Egyptian  relief  1 :  from  Maspero. 

the  water,  and  to  construct  vast  reservoirs  for  the  surplus. 
Thus  the  Nile,  which  had  made  the  land,  played  a  part  in 
making  Egypt  into  one  state.^  To  control  the  yearly  overflow 
was  the  first  common  interest  of  all  the  people.  At  first,  no 
doubt  through  wasteful  centuries,  separate  villages  strove  only 
to  get  each  its  needful  share  of  water,  without  attention  to  the 
needs  of  others.  The  engravings  on  early  monuments  show 
the  people  of  neighboring  villages  waging  bloody  wars  along 
the  dikes,  or  in  rude  boats  on  the  canals,  before  they  learned 
the   costly  lesson   of  cooperation.     But  such  hostile   action, 

1  A  relief  is  a  piece  of  sculpture  in  which  the  figures  are  only  partly  cut 
away  from  the  solid  rock. 

2  The  word  "  state  "  is  commonly  used  in  history  not  in  the  sense  in  which 
we  call  Massachusetts  a  state,  but  rather  in  that  sense  in  which  we  call  Eng- 
land or  the  whole  United  States  a  state.  That  is.  the  word  means  a  people, 
livinrj  in  some  deriaiie  p'ace,  icith  a  yovcrnment  of  its  own. 


§  12]  GOVERNMENT  AND   PEOPLE  19 

cutting  the  dams  and  destroying  the  reservoirs  year  by  year, 
was  ruinous.  From  an  early  period,  men  in  the  Nile  valley 
must  have  felt  the  need  of  agreement  and  of  political  union. 

Accordingly,  before  history  begins,  the  multitudes  of  villages 
had  combined  into  about  forty  petty  states.  Each  one  ex- 
tended from  side  to  side  of  the  valley  and  a  few  miles  up  and 
down  the  river;  and  each  was  ruled  by  a  "king."  In  order  to 
secure  prompt  action  against  enemies  to  the  dikes,  and  to  di- 
rect all  the  forces  of  the  state  at  the  necessary  moment,  the 
ruler  had  to  have  unlimited  power.  So  these  kings  became 
absolute  despots,  and  the  mass  of  the  people  became  little 
better  than  slaves.  Then  the  same  forces  which  had  worked 
to  unite  villages  into  states  tended  to  combine  the  many  small 
states  into  a  few  larger  ones.  ^lemphis,  in  the  lower  valley, 
and  Thebes,  350  miles  farther  up  the  river,  were  the  greatest  of 
many  rival  cities.  After  centuries  of  conflict,  Menes,  prince  of 
Memphis,  united  the  petty  principalities  around  him  into  the 
kingdom  of  Lower  Egypt.  In  like  manner  Thebes  became  the 
capital  of  a  kingdom  of  Upper  Egypt.  About  the  year  3400 
before  Christ,  the  two  kingdoms  were  united  into  one.  Later 
Egyptians  thought  of  Menes  as  the  first  king  of  the  whole 
country. 

governm?:nt  and  people 

12.  Social  Classes. —  7'//r  kiny  was  worshiped  as  a  god  by 
the  mass  of  the  people.  His  title,  Pharaoh,  means  The  Great 
House,  —  as  the  title  of  the  sui)reiue  ruler  of  Turkey  in  modern 
times  has  been  the  Sublime  Porte  (Gate).  The  title  implies 
that  the  ruler  was  to  be  a  refuge  for  his  people. 

The  pharaoh  was  the  absolute  owner  of  the  soil.  The  Old 
Testament  gives  an  account  of  how  this  ownership  was  made 
complete  through  a  "  corner  in  wheat "  arranged  by  Pharaoh's 
adviser,  the  Hebrew  Joseph.  But  probably  the  kings  had 
taken  most  of  the  soil  for  their  own  from  the  first,  in  return  for 
protecting  it  by  their  dikes  and  reservoirs.  At  all  events,  this 
ownership  helped  to  make  the  pharaoh  absolute  master  of  the 


20 


EGYPT 


(§12 


inhabitants,  —  though  in  practice  his  authority  was  somewhat 
limited  by  the  power  of  the  priests  and  by  the  necessity  of 
keeping  ambitious  nobles  friendly.'  Part  of  the  land  he  kept 
in  his  own  hands,  to  be  cultivated  by  peasants  under  the  direc- 
tion of  royal  stewards ;  but  the  greater  portion  he  parceled  out 
among  the  nobles  and  temples. 

In  return  for  the  land  granted  to  him,  a  noble  was  bound  to 
pay  certain  amounts  of  produce,  and  to  lead  a  certain  number 
of  soldiers  to  war.     Within  his  domain,  the  noble  was  a  petty 

monarch :    he  ex- 

-^^=\  ecuted  justice, 
levied  his  own 
taxes,  kept  up  his 
own  army.  Like 
the  king,  he  held 
part  of  his  land 
in  his  own  hands, 
while  other  parts 
he  let  out  to 
smaller  nobles. 
These  men  were 
dependent  upon  him,  much  as  he  was  dependent  upon  the  king. 
About  a  third  of  the  land  was  turned  over  by  the  king  to 
the  temples  to  support  the  worship  of  the  gods.  This  land  be- 
came the  property  of  the  priests.  The  priests  were  also  the 
scholars  of  Egypt,  and  they  took  an  active  part  in  the  govern- 
ment. The  pharaoh  took  most  of  his  high  officials  from  them, 
and  their  influence  far  exceeded  that  of  the  nobles. 

The  peasants  tilled  the  soil.  They  were  not  unlike  the 
peasants  of  modern  Egypt.  They  rented  small  "  farms,"  — 
hardly  more  than  garden  plots,  —  for  which  they  paid  at  least 
a  third  of  the  produce  to  the  landlord.  This  left  too  little  for 
a  family ;  and  they  eked  out  a  livelihood  by  day  labor  on  the 
land  of  the  nobles  and  priests.  For  this  work  they  were  paid 
by  a  small  part  of  the  produce.     The  peasant,  too,  had  to 


A  Capital  from  Karnak.  —  From  Liibke. 


1  See  Davis'  Readings,  Vol.  I,  No.  2. 


§  12]  CLASSES   OF   PEOPLE  21 

remain  under  the  protection  of  some  powerful  landlord,  or  he 
might  become  the  i»rey  of  any  one  whom  he  chanced  to  offend. 

Still,  in  quarrels  with  the  rich,  the  poor  were  perhaps  as  safe  as  they 
have  been  in  most  countries.  The  oldest  written  "story"  in  the  world 
(surviving  in  a  papyrus  of  about  2700  b.c.  )  gives  an  interesting  illustration. 
A  peasant,  robbed  through  a  legal  trick  by  the  favorite  of  a  royal  officer, 
appeals  to  the  judges  and  finally  to  the  king.  The  king  commands  redress, 
urging  his  officer  to  do  justice  "like  a  praiseworthy  man  praised  by  the 
praiseworthy."  The  passage  in  quotation  marks  shows  that  there  was  a 
strong  public  opinion  against  injustice.  Probably  such  appeals  by  the 
poor  were  no  more  difficult  to  make  than  they  were  in  Germany  or  France 
until  a  hundred  years  ago.  And  we  have  not  yet  learned  how  to  give  the 
poor  man  an  absolutely  equal  chance  with  the  rich  in  our  law  courts. 

In  the  towns  there  w^as  a  large  middle  class,  —  merchants, 
shopkeepers,  physicians,  lawyers,'  builders,  artisans  (§  20). 

Below  these  were  the  unskilled  laborers.  This  class  was 
sometimes  driven  to  a  strike  by  hunger. 

Maspero,  a  famous  French  scholar  in  Egyptian  history,  makes  the 
following  statement  (Struggle  of  the  Xatinns,  53'.)):  — 

"  Rations  were  allowed  each  workman  at  the  end  of  every  month  ; 
but,  from  the  usual  Egyptian  lack  of  forethought,  these  were  often  con- 
sumed long  before  the  next  assignment.  Such  an  event  was  usually 
followed  by  a  strike.  On  one  occasion  we  are  shown  the  workmen  turn- 
ing to  the  overseer,  saying :  '  We  are  perishing  of  hunger,  and  there  are 
still  eighteen  days  before  the  next  month.'  The  latter  makes  profuse 
promises ;  but,  when  nothing  comes  of  them,  the  workmen  will  not  listen 
to  him  longer.  They  leave  their  work  and  gather  in  a  public  meeting. 
The  overseer  hastens  after  them,  and  the  police  commissioners  of  the 
locality  and  the  scribes  mingle  with  them,  urging  upon  the  leaders  a 
return.  But  the  workmen  only  say  :  '  We  will  not  return.  Make  it 
clear  to  your  superiors  down  below  there.'  The  official  who  reports  the 
matter  to  the  authorities  seems  to  think  the  complaints  well  founded,  for 
he  says,  '  We  went  to  hear  tliem,  and  they  spoke  true  words  to  us.'  " 

Tliroughout  Egyptian  society,  the  son  usually  followed  the 
father's  occupation ;  but  there  was  no  law  (as  in  some  Oriental 
countries)  to  prevent  his  passing  into  a  different  class.     Some- 

^  These  were  mainly  notaries,  —  to  draw  up  business  papers,  record  trans- 
fers of  property,  and  so  on. 


22 


EGYPT 


[§12 


times  the  son  of  a  poor  herdsman  rose  to  wealth  and  power. 
Such  advance  was  most  easily  open  to  the  scribes.  This  learned 
profession  was  recruited  from  the  brightest  boys  of  the  middle 
and  lower  classes.  Most  of  the  scribes  found  clerical  work 
only ;  but  from  the  ablest  ones  the  nobles  chose  confidential 
secretaries   and   stewards,    and    some  of   these,   who   showed 

special  ability,  were  pro- 
moted by  the  pharaohs 
to  the  highest  dignities 
in  the  land.  Such  men 
founded  new  families  and 
reinforced  the  ranks  of 
the  nobility. 

The  soldiers  formed  an 
important  profession. 
Campaigns  were  so  deadly 
that  it  was  hard  to  find 
soldiers  enough.  Ac- 
cordingly recruits  were 
tempted  by  offers  of 
special  privileges.  Each 
soldier  held  a  farm  of 
some  eight  acres,^  free 
from  taxes ;  and  he  was 
kept  under  arms  only 
when  his  services  were 
needed.  Besides  this  reg- 
ular soldiery,  the  peas- 
antry were  called  out 
upon  occasion,  for  war  or 
for  garrisons. 
There  was  also  a  large  body  of  officials,  organized  in  many 
grades  like  the  officers  of  an  army.  Every  despotic  government 
has  to  have  such  a  class,  to  act  as  eyes,  hands,  and  feet ;  but 


Portrait  Statue  of  Amten,  a  "self- 
made"  noble  of  3200  B.C. 


1  For  Egypt  this  was  a  large  farm.    See  page  20. 


§  i;^i 


LIFE   OF   THE   PEOPLE 


23 


in  ancient  Egypt  the  royal  servants  were  particularly  numerous 
and  important.  Until  the  seventh  century  b.c.  the  Egyptians 
had  no  money.  Thus  the  immense  royal  revenues,  as  well  as  all 
debts  between  private  men,  had  to  be  collected  "in  kind." 
The  tax-collectors  and  treasurers  had  to  receive  geese,  ducks, 
cattle,  grain,  wine,  oil,  metals,  jewels,  —  "all  that  the  heavens 


Egyptian  Noble  hunting  "Watkhfowl  on  the  Nile  with  the  "  throw- 
stick  "  (a  boomerang).  The  birds  rise  from  a  group  of  papyrus  reeds. — 
Egyptian  relief;  after  Maspero. 

give,  all  that  the  earth  produces,  all  that  the  Nile  brings  from 
its  mysterious  sources,"  as  one  king  puts  it  in  an  inscription. 
To  do  this  called  for  an  army  of  royal  officials.  For  a  like 
reason,  the  great  nobles  needed  a  large  class  of  trustworthy 
servants. 

13.  Summary  of  Social  Classes.  —  Thus,  in  Egyptian  society, 
we  have  at  the  top  an  ((ristumioj,  of  several  elements :  (1)  the 
nobles;  (2)  the  powerful  and  learned  priesthood,  whose  in- 
fluence almost  equaled  that  of  the  pharaoh  himself ;   (3)  scribes 


24  EGYPT  [§  14 

and  physicians;  (4)  a  privileged  soldiery;  and  (5)  a  mass  oi 
privileged  officials  of  many  grades,  from  the  greatest  rulers 
next  to  the  pharaoh,  down  to  petty  tax  collectors  and  the  stew- 
ards of  private  estates.  Lower  down  there  was  the  middle  class, 
of  shopkeepers  and  artisans,  whose  life  ranged  from  comfort 
to  a  grinding  misery;  while  at  the  base  of  society  was  a  large 
mass  of  toilers  on  the  land,  weighted  down  by  all  the  other 
classes.  It  is  not  strange  that,  in  time,  upper  and  lower 
classes  came  to  differ  in  physical  appearance.  The  later 
monuments  represent  the  nobles  tall  and  lithe,  with  imperious 
bearing;  while  the  laborer  is  pictured  heavy  of  feature  and 
dumpy  in  build. 

14.  Life  of  the  Wealthy.  —  For  most  of  the  well-to-do,  life 
was  a  very  delightful  thing,  filled  with  active  employment  and 
varied  with  many  pleasures.^  Their  homes  were  roomy  houses 
with  a  wooden  frame  plastered  over  with  sun-dried  clay. 
Light  and  air  entered  at  the  many  latticed  windows,  where, 
however,  curtains  of  brilliant  hues  shut  out  the  occasional  sand 
storms  from  the  desert.  About  the  house  stretched  a  large 
garden  with  artificial  fish-ponds  gleaming  among  the  palm 
trees.^ 

15.  The  Life  of  the  Poor.  —  There  were  few  slaves  in  Egypt ; 
but  the  condition  of  the  great  mass  of  the  people  fell  little 
short  of  practical  slavery.  Toilers  on  the  canals,  and  on  the 
pyramids  and  other  vast  works  that  have  made  Egypt  famous, 
were  kept  to  their  labor  by  the  whip.  "  Man  has  a  back,"  was 
a  favorite  Egyptian  proverb.  The  monuments  always  picture 
the  overseers  with  a  stick,  and  often  show  it  in  use.  The  people 
thought  of  a  beating  as  a  natural  incident  in  their  daily  work. 

The  peasants  did  not  live  in  the  country,  as  our  farmers  do. 
.  They  were  crowded  into  the  villages  and  poorer  quarters  of  the 

1  The  student  who  has  access  to  ISIaspero's  Dawn  of  Vivilization  (or  to 
various  other  iUustrated  works  on  Early  Egypt)  can  make  an  interesting 
report  upon  these  recreations  from  what  he  can  see  in  the  pictures  from  the 
monuments. 

2  A  full  description  of  a  nohle's  house  is  given  in  Davis'  Readings,  Vol.  I, 
No.  5. 


15] 


LIFE   OF  THE   POOR 


25 


towns,  with  the  other  poorer  classes.  The  house  of  a  poor 
man  was  a  mud  hovel  of  only  one  room.  Such  huts  were 
separated  from  one  another  merely  by  one  mud  partition,  and 
were  built  in  long  rows,  facing  upon  narrow  crooked  alleys 
filled  with  filth.  A  "plague  of  flies"  was  natural  enough; 
and  only  the  extremely  dry  air  kept  down  that. and  worse  pes- 


Levying  the  Tji-x. —  All  Egyptian  relief  from  the  moiiumeiits ;  from  Maspero. 


tilences.  Hours  of  toil  were  from  dawn  to  dark.  Taxes  were 
exacted  harshly,  and  the  peasant  was  held  responsible  for  them 
with  all  that  he  owned,  even  with  his  body.  An  Egyptian 
writer  of  about  1400  b.c.  exclaims  in  pity  :  — 

"  Dost  thou  not  recall  the  picture  of  the  farmer,  when  the  tenth  of  his 
grain  is  levied  ?  Worms  have  destroyed  half  of  the  wlieat,  and  the  hip- 
popotami have  eaten  the  rest.  There  are  swarms  of  rats  in  the  fields  ;  the 
grasshoppers  alight  there;  the  cattle  devour;  the  little  birds  pilfer;  and  if 
the  farmer  lose  sight  for  an  instant  of  wiiat  remains  upon  the  ground, 
it  is  carried  off  by  robbers.  The  thongs,  moreover,  which  bind  the  iron 
and  the  hoe  are  worn  out,  and  the  team  [of  cows]  has  died  at  the  plow. 
It  is  then  that  the  scribe  steps  out  of  the  boat  at  the  landing  place  to  levy 
the  tithe,  and  there  come  the  keepers  of  the  doors  of  the  granary  with 
cudgels  and  the  Negroes  with  ribs  of  palm-leaves  [very  effective  whips], 
crying  :  '  Come  now,  corn  ! '  There  is  none,  and  they  throw  the  culti- 
vator full  length  upon  the  ground  ;  bound,  dragged  to  the  canal,  they 
fling  him  in  head  first  [probably  a  figurative  way  of  saying  that  he  was 
forced  to  work  out  his  tax  on  the  canals]  ;  his  wife  is  bound  with  him, 
his  children  are  put  into  chains ;  the  neighbors,  in  the  meantime,  leave 
him  and  fly  to  save  their  grain." 


26  EGYPT  [§  16 

Still,  judging  from  Egyptian  literature,  the  peasants  seem 
to  have  been  careless  and  gay,  petting  the  cattle  and  singing 
at  their  work.  Probably  they  were  as  well  off  as  the  like  class 
has  been  during  the  past  century  in  Egypt  or  in  Russia. 

16.  The  position  of  women  was  better  than  it  was  to  be 
in  the  Greek  civilization,  and  much  better  than  in  modern 
Oriental  countries.  The  poor  man's  wife  spun  and  wove,  and 
ground  grain  into  meal  in  a  stone  bowl  with  another  stone. 
Among  the  upper  classes,  the  wife  was  the  companion  of  the 
man.  She  was  not  shut  up  in  a  harem  or  confined  strictly  to 
household  duties :  she  appeared  in  company  and.  at  public 
ceremonies.  She  possessed  equal  rights  at  law ;  and  some- 
times great  queens  ruled  upon  the  throne.  In  no  other  coun- 
try, until  modern  times,  do  pictures  of  happy  home  life  play  so 
large  a  part. 

INDUSTRY  AND  LEARNING 

17.  The  Irrigation  System.  —  Before  the  year  2000  b.c,  the 
Egyptians  had  learned  to  supplement  the  yearly  overflow  of 
the  Nile  by  an  elaborate  irrigation  system.  Even  earlier,  they 
had  built  dikes  to  keep  the  floods  from  the  towns  and  gardens ; 
and  the  care  of  these  embankments  remained  a  special  duty  of 
the  government  through  all  Egyptian  history.  But  between 
2400  and  2000  b.c.  the  pharaohs  created  a  wonderful  reservoir 
system.  On  the  one  hand,  tens  of  thousands  of  acres  of  marsh 
were  drained  and  made  fit  for  rich  cultivation  :  on  the  other 
hand,  artificial  lakes  were  built  at  various  places,  to  collect 
and  hold  the  surplus  water  of  the  yearly  inundation.  Then, 
by  an  intricate  network  of  ditches  and  "  gates  ''  (much  like  the 
irrigation  ditches  of  some  of  our  western  States  to-day),  the 
water  was  distributed  during  the  dry  months  as  it  was  needed. 
The  government  opened  and  closed  the  main  ditches,  as  seemed 
best  to  it ;  and  its  officers  oversaw  the  more  minute  distribution 
of  the  water,  by  which  each  farm  in  the  vast  irrigated  districts 
was  given  its  share.  Then,  from  the  main  ditch  of  each  farm, 
the  farmer  himself  carried  the  water  in  smaller  water  courses 


§  18]  AGRICULTURE  27 

to  one  part  or  another  of  his  acres,  —  these  small  ditches 
gradually  growing  smaller  and  smaller,  until,  by  moving  a 
little  mud  with  the  foot,  he  could  turn  the  water  one  way  or 
another  at  his  will.  Ground  so  cultivated  was  divided  into 
square  beds,  surrounded  by  raised  borders  of  earth,  so  that  the 
water  could  be  kept  in  or  out  of  each  bed. 

The  most  important  single  work  of  this  system  of  irrigation  was  the 
artificial  Lake  Moeris  (map,  page  16).  This  was  constructed  by  improv- 
ing a  natural  basin  in  the  desert.  To  tliis  depression,  a  canal  was  dug 
from  the  Nile  through  a  gorge  in  tlie  hills  for  a  distance  of  eight  miles. 
At  the  Nile  side,  a  huge  dam,  with  gates,  made  it  possible  to  carry  off 
through  the  canal  the  surplus  water  at  flood  periods.  The  canal  was 
30  feet  deep  and  IGO  feet  wide  ;  and  from  the  "lake,"  smaller  canals 
distributed  the  water  over  a  large  district  which  had  before  been  perfectly 
barren.  This  useful  work  was  still  in  perfect  condition  two  thousand 
years  after  its  creation,  and  was  praised  highly  by  a  Roman  geographer 
who  visited  it  then. 

So  extensive  were  these  irrigation  works  in  very  early  times 
that  more  soil  was  cultivated,  and  more  wealth  produced,  and 
a  larger  population  maintained,  than  in  any  modern  period 
imtil  English  control  was  established  in  the  country  a  short 
time  ago.  Herodotus  (§  21)  says  that  in  his  day  Egypt  had 
twenty  thousand  "  towns  "  (villages). 

18.  Agriculture.  —  "Wheat  and  barley  had  been  introduced  at 
an  early  time  from  the  Euphrates  region,  and  some  less  im- 
portant grains  (like  sesame)  were  also  grown.  Besides  the 
grain,  the  chief  food  crops  were  beans,  peas,  lettuce,  radishes, 
melons,  cucumbers,  and  onions.  Clover  was  raised  for  cattle, 
and  flax  for  the  linen  cloth  which  was  the  main  material  for 
clothing.*  Grapes,  too,  were  grown  in  great  quantities,  for  the 
manufacture  of  a  light  wine. 

Herodotus  says  that  seed  was  merely  scattered  broadcast  on 
the  moist  soil  as  the  water  receded  each  November,  and  then 
trampled  in  by  cattle  and  goats  and  pigs.     But  the  pictures  on 

1  There  was  also  some  cotton  raised,  and  the  abundant  flocks  of  sheep 
furnished  wool. 


28 


EGYPT 


(§18 


Egyptian  Plow.  —  After  Rawlinson. 


the  monuments  show  that,  in  parts  of  Egypt  anyway,  a  liglit 
wooden  plow  was  used  to  stir  the  ground.  This  plow  was 
drawn  by  two  cows.  Even  the  large  farms  were  treated 
almost  like  gardens  ;  and  the  j'ield  was  enormous,  —  reaching 

the  rate  of  a  hun- 
dred fold  for 
grain.  Long  after 
her  greatness  had 
departed,  Egypt 
remained  "the 
granary  of  the 
Mediterranean 
lands." 

The  various  crops  matured  at  different  seasons,  and  so 
kept  the  farmer  busy  through  most  of  the  year.  Besides  the 
plow,  his  only  tools  were  a  short,  crooked  hoe  (the  use  of 
which  bent  him  almost  double)  and  the  sickle.  The  grain  was 
cut  with  this  last  implement;  then  carried  in  baskets  to  a 
threshing  floor,  —  and  trodden  out  by  cattle,  which  were  driven 
round  and  round,  while  the  drivers  sang,  — 

"  Tread,  tread,  tread  out  the  grain. 
Tread  for  yourselves,  for  youi-selves. 
Measures  for  the  master  ;  measures  for  yourselves." 

An  Egyptian  barnyard  containetl  many  animals  familiar  to 
us  (cows,  sheep,  goats,  scrawny  pigs  much  like  the  wild  hog, 
goese,  ducks,  and  pigeons),  and  also  a  number  of  others  like 
antelopes,  gazelles,  and  storks.  Some  of  these  it  proved  im- 
j)ossible  to  tame  profitably.  We  must  remember  that  ynen  had 
to  learn  hj  careful  e.tperiment,  throiirfh  many  generations  of  animal 
life,  2vhich  animals  it  paid  best  to  domesticate.  The  hen  was  not 
known  ;  nor  was  the  horse  present  in  Egypt  until  a  late  period 
(§  29).  Even  then  he  was  never  common  enough  to  use  in 
agriculture  or  as  a  draft  animal. 

During  the  flood  periods  cattle  were  fed  in  stalls  upon  clover 
and   wheat   straw.     The    monuments    picture    some   exciting 


19] 


TRADE 


29 


scenes  when  a  rapid  rise  of  the  Nile  forced  the  peasants  to 
remove  their  flocks  and  herds  hurriedly,  through  the  surging 
waters,  from  usual  grazing  grounds  to  the  flood-time  quarters. 
Veal,  mutton,  and  antelope  flesh  were  the  common  meats  of  the 
rich.     The  poor  lived  mainly  on  vegetables,  and  goats'  milk. 

19.  Trade.  —  Until  about  650  B.C.,  the  Egyptians  had  no  true 
money.  For  some  centuries  before  that  date,  they  had  used 
rings  of  gold  and  silver  to  some  extent,  somewhat  as  we  use 
money;  but  these  rings  had  no  fixed  weight,  and  had  to  be 


iSlAiiKKT  8cEM';.  —  Kf;ypti;iii  reliuf  from  the  iiujuuaifiu.s. 

placed  on  the  scales  each  time  they  changed  hands.  During 
most  of  Egypt's  three  thousand  years  of  greatness,  indeed,  ex- 
change in  her  market  places  was  by  barter.  A  peasant  with 
wheat  or  onions  to  sell  squatted  by  his  basket,  while  would-be 
customers  offered  him  earthenware,  vases,  fans,  or  other  objects 
with  which  they  had  come  to  buy,  but  which  jierhaps  he  did  not 
want.  (The  student  will  be  interested  in  an  admirable  descrip- 
tion of  a  market  scene  in  Davis'  Readings,  Vol.  I,  No.  7.  The 
picture  above,  from  an  Egyptian  monument,  is  one  of  those 
used  as  the  basis  of  that  account.) 

We  hardly  know  whether  to  be  most  amazed  at  the  wonder- 
ful progress  of  the  Egyptians  in  some  lines,  or  at  their  failure 


30  EGYPT  [§  20 

to  invent  money  and  an  alphabet,  wlien  they  needed  those 
things  so  sorely  and  approached  them  so  closely. 

In  spite  of  this  serious  handicap,  by  2000  b.g.  the  Egyptians 
cai-ried  on  extensive  trade.  One  inscription  of  that  period  de- 
scribes a  ship  bringing  from  the  coast  of  Arabia  "fragrant 
woods,  heaps  of  myrrh,  ebony  and  pure  ivory,  green  gold,  cin- 
namon, incense,  cosmetics,  apes,  monkeys,  dogs,  and  panther 
skins."  Some  of  these  things  must  have  been  gathered  from 
distant  parts  of  Eastern  Asia. 

20.  The  Industrial  Arts.  —  The  skilled  artisans  included 
brickworkers,  weavers,  blacksmiths,  goldsmiths,  coppersmiths, 


Shoemakers.  —  Egyptian  relief  from  the  monuments;  from  Maspero. 

upholsterers,  glass  blowers,  potters,  shoemakers,  tailors,  ar- 
morers, and  almost  as  many  other  trades  as  are  to  be  found 
among  us  to-day.  In  many  of  these  occupations,  the  workers 
possessed  a  marvelous  dexterity,  and  were  masters  of  processes 
that  are  now  unknown.  The  weavers  in  particular  produced 
delicate  and  exquisite  linen,  almost  as  fine  as  silk,  and  the 
workers  in  glass  and  gold  and  bronze  were  famous  for  their  skill. 
Jewels  were  imitated  in  colored  glass  so  artfully  that  only  an 
expert  to-day  can  detect  the  fraud  by  the  appearance.  Iron 
was  not  much  used  until  about  800  B.C.  A  few  pieces  of  iron 
have  been  found  in  Egyptian  ruins  of  earlier  date ;  but  plainly 
these  are  "  free "  iron,  such  as  is  occasionally  discovered  in 
many  parts  of  the  world.  Their  presence  in  Egypt  does  not 
mean  that  the  early  inhabitants  knew  how  to  work  in  iron. 


§21] 


INDUSTRY  AND  ART 


31 


21.  The  chief  fine  arts  were  architecture,  sculpture,  and 
painting.  The  Egyptian  art,  indeed,  was  the  architecture  of 
the  temple  and  the  tonib. 

The  most  famous  Egyptian  buildings  are  the  pyramids. 
They  were  the  tombs  of  kings.  That  is,  they  were  exaggerated 
imitations,  in  stone,  of  savage  grave  mounds  like  those  of  our 


Sphinx  and  Pyramids.  —  From  ;i  photograph.  (The  human  in  :i.|  n\  the 
sphinx  is  supposed  to  have  tlu^  magnified  features  of  a  pharauh.  It  is  set 
upon  the  body  of  a  lion,  as  a  symbol  of  power.) 

American  Indians.  The  skill  shown  iu  the  construction  of  the 
pyramids  implies  a  remarkable  knowledge  of  mathematics  and 
of  physics  for  such  early  times ;  and  their  impressive  massiveness 
has  always  placed  them  among  the  wonders  of  the  world. 

The  mcst  important  pyramids  stand  upon  a  sandy  plateau  a 
little  below  the  city  of  iMemphis  (map,  page  16).  The  largest, 
and  one  of  the  oldest,  is  known  as  the  Great  Pyramid.  It  is 
thought  to  have  been  built  by  King  Cheops  more  than  3000  years 
before  Christ,  and  it  is  by  far  the  largest  and  most  massive 


32 


EGYPT 


(§21 


building  in  the  world.  Its  base  covers  thirteen  acres,  and  it 
rises  481  feet  from  the  plain.  More  than  two  million  huge  stone 
blocks  Avent  to  make  it,  —  more  stone  than  has  gone  into  any 
other  building  in  the  world.  Some  single  blocks  weigh  over 
hfty  tons ;   but  the  edges  of  the  blocks  that  form  the  faces  are 


-Mean  Sea  Level^^ 


SCALE  01^  FEET 


-^Sican  Sea  Lievel- 


Vertical  Section  of  the  Great  Pyramid,  looking  West,  showing 

passages. 


A  Entrance  passage. 
B  A  later  opening'. 
D  First  ascending  passage. 
E  Horizont.ll  passage. 


F      Queen's  chamber. 
G  G  Grand  gallery. 
H      Antechamber. 
I       Coffer. 


K      King's  chamber. 
M  X  Ventilating  chambers. 
O       Subterranean  chamber. 
P       Well,  so  called. 


K  R  R  Probable  e.xtent  to  which  the  native  rock  is  employed  to  assist  the  masonry  of  the 

building. 

SO  polished,  and  so  nicely  fitted,  that  the  joints  can  hardly  be 
detected ;  while  the  interior  chambers,  and  long,  sloping  pas- 
sages between  them,  are  built  with  such  skill  that,  notwith- 
standing the  immense  weight  above  them,  there  has  been  no 
perceptible  settling  of  the  walls  in  the  lapse  of  five  thousand 
years. 


§21]  INDUSTRY  AND  ART  33 

Herodotus,  a  Greek  historian  of  the  fifth  century  b.c,  traveled  in 
Egypt  and  learned  all  that  the  priests  of  his  day  could  tell  him  regarding 
these  wonders.  He  tells  us  that  it  took  thirty  years  to  build  the  Great 
Pyramid,  —  ten  of  those  years  going  to  piling  the  vast  mounds  of  earth,  up 
wliich  the  mighty  stones  were  to  be  dragged  into  place,  — which  mounds 
had  afterwards  to  be  removed.  During  that  thirty  years,  relays  of  a  hun- 
dred thousand  men  were  kept  at  the  toil,  each  relay  for  three  months  at  a 
stretch.  Other  thousands,  of  course,  had  to  toil  through  a  lifetime  of 
labor  to  feed  these  workers  on  a  monument  to  a  monarch's  vanity.  All  the 
labor  was  performed  by  mere  human  sti-ength :  the  Egyptians  of  that  day 
had  no  beasts  of  burden,  and  no  machinery,  such  as  we  have,  for  moving 
great  weights  with  ease. 

The  pyramids  were  the  work  of  an  early  line  of  kings,  scon 
after  the  time  of  Menes.  Later  monarchs  were  content  with 
smaller  resting  places  for  their  own  bodies/  and  built  instead 
gigantic  temples  for  the  gods.  In  their  private  dwellings  the 
Egyptians  sometimes  used  graceful  columns  and  the  true  arch, 
but  for  their  temples  they  preferred  massive  walls  and  rows  of 
huge,  close-set  columns,  sui)porting  roofs  of  immense  flat  slabs 
of  rock.  The  result  gives  an  impression  of  stupendous  power, 
but  it  lacks  grace  and  beauty. 

On  the  walls  of  the  temples  and  within  the  tombs  we  find  the 
inscriptions  and  the  })apyrus  rolls  that  tell  us  of  ancient  Egyp- 
tian life.  With  the  inscriptions  there  are,  found  long  bands  of 
pictures  ("  reliefs  ")  cut  into  the  walls,  illustrating  the  story. 
There  are  found  also  many  full  statues,  large  and  small.  Much 
of  the  early  sculpture  was  lifelike ;  and  even  the  unnatural 
colossal  statues,  such  as  the  Sphinxes,  have  a  gloomy  grandeur 
in  keeping  with  the  melancholy  desert  that  stretches  about 
them.     Later  sculpture  has  less  character  and  less  finish. 

The  painting  lasted  in  the  closed  rock  tombs  with  perfect 
freshness,  but  it  fades  quickly  upon  exposure  to  the  air.  The 
painters  used  color  well,  but  they  did  not  draw  correct  forms. 
Like  the  "relief"  sculptures,  the  painting  lacked  perspective 
and  proportion. 

1  Often,  however,  they  used  the  old  pyramids,  already  constructed,  for  their 

tonihs,  sometimes  casting  out  the  mummy  of  a  predecessor. 


34 


EGYPT 


[§22 


22.  Literature  and  the  Hieroglyphs.  —  The  Egyptians  wrote 
religious  books,  poems,  histories,  travels,  novels,  orations,  trea- 
tises ii])on   morals,   scientific  works,   geographies,  cook-books, 


Ti   ^k^^M 

■■1 

^I^BHjfl 

1  ^^1 

l^m^^ 

^'1 

m 

91 

^9 

!]^^^^^^^^^^^^KL 

^V 

^^mBpH^^^^k  ' 

J 

L^fl 

P^^^^H 

^^^1 

^^auLiS 

J 

H^^i^^^^S^I 

H 

Ra-Hotep,  a  noble  of  about  3200  b.c.  Prixcess  Nefert,  a  portrait  statue 
Perhaps  the  oldest  portrait  statue  in  5000  years  old.  Now  in  the  Cairo 
the  world.    Now  in  the  Cairo  Museum.        Museum. 


catalogues,  and  collections  of  fairy  stories,  —  among  the  last  a 
tale  of  an  Egyptian  Cinderella,  with  her  fairy  glass  slipper. 
On  the  first   monuments,  writing  had  advanced   from   mere 


§22] 


LITERATURE   AND   LEARNING 


35 


pictures  to  a  rebus  stage  (cf.  §  3  e).  This  early  writing  was 
used  mainly  by  the  priests  in  connection  with  the  worship  of 
the  gods,  and  so  the  characters  were  called  hieroglyphs  (''  priest's 
writing  ").  The  pictures,  though  shrunken,  compose  "  a  delight- 
ful assemblage  of  birds,  snakes,  men,  tools,  stars,  and  beasts." 
Some  of  these  signs  grew  ijito  real  letters,  or  svjns  of  single 


Tk.mplk  (IF  Ei>Fr.  —  A  village  lieiwtin  Tlit-lics  aini  the  First  Cataract. 
This  is  one  of  the  best  preserved  Efi;yptiaii  temples.  It  is  the  basis  of  the 
article  on  Egyptian  Architecture  in  the  Encyclopaedia  Brltannlca,  Ninth 
Edition. 

sounds.  If  the  Egyptians  could  have  kept  these  last  and  have 
dropped  all  the  rest,  they  would  have  had  a  true  alphabet.  But 
this  final  step  they  never  took.  Their  writing  remained  to 
the  last  a  curious  mixture  of  thousands  of  signs  of  things,  of 
ideas,  of  syllables,  and  of  a  few  single  sounds.^  This  was  what 
made  the  position  of  the  scribes  so  honorable  and  profitable. 
To  master  such  a  system  of  writing  required  long  schooling, 

1  A  good  account  of  the  hieroglyphs  is  given  in  Keary's  Duwn  of  Histoni, 
298-303.  Another  may  be  found  in  Maspero's  Dttinn  of  Civilization,  '221-224, 
and  there  is  a  pleasant  longer  account  in  Clodd's  Story  of  the  Alphabet. 


36 


EGYPT 


(§23 


and  any  one  who  could  write  was  sure  of  well-paid  employ- 
ment. 

When  these  characters  were  formed  rapidly  upon  papyrus 
or  pottery  (instead  of  upon  stone),  the  strokes  were  run  to- 
gether, and  the  char- 


acters were  gradually 
modified  into  a  run- 
ning script,  which 
was  written  with  a 
reed  in  black  or  red 
ink.  The  dry  air  of 
the  Egyptian  tombs 
has  preserved  to  our 
day  great  numbers  of 
buried  papyrus  rolls. 

23.  Science.  — The 
Nile  has  been  called 
the  father  of  Egyp- 
tian science.  The 
frequent  need  of  sur- 
veying the  land  after 
an  inundation  had  to 
do  with  the  skill  of 
the  early  Egyptians 
in  geometry.  The 
need  of  fixing  in  ad- 
vance the  exact  time 
of  the  inundation  di- 
rected attention  to 
the  true  "  year,"  and 
so  to  astronomy . 

Great  progress 
was    made    in   both 


Relief  from  the  Temple  of  Hathor  (goddess 
of  the  sky  and  of  love),  at  Dendera,  28  miles 
north  of  Thebes.  This  temple  belongs  to  a  late 
period.  Notice  the  "conventionalized"  wings, 
and  the  royal  "cartouches."  In  Egyptian  in- 
scriptions, the  name  of  a  king  is  surrounded  by 
a  line,  as  in  the  upper  right-hand  corner  of  this 
relief.  Such  a  figure  is  called  a  "cartouch." 
See  the  Rosetta  stone,  on  page  12. 


these  studies.  We  moderns,  who  learn  glibly  from  books  and 
diagrams  the  results  of  this  early  labor,  can  hardly  understand 
how  difficult  was  the  task  of  these  first  scientific  observers. 


§24]  LITERATURE   AND   LEARNING  37 

Uncivilized  peoples  count  time  by  "  moons"  or  by  "  winters"  ;  but  to 
fix  the  exact  lenj^'tli  of  the  year  (the  time  in  which  tlie  sun  apparently 
passes  from  a  given  point  in  the  heavens,  through  its  path,  back  again  to 
that  point)  requires  long  and  patient  and  skillful  observation,  and  no  little 
knowledge.  Indeed,  to  find  out  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  a  "  year  "  is 
no  simple  matter.  If  the  student  will  go  out  into  the  night,  and  look  upon 
the  heavens,  with  its  myriads  of  twinkling  points  of  light,  and  then  try  to 
imagine  how  the  first  scientists,  without  being  told  by  any  one  else,  learned 
to  map  out  the  paths  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  he  will  better  appreciate  their 
work. 

The  Egyptians  understood  the  revolution  of  the  earth  and 
planets  around  the  sun,  and  they  fixed  the  year  at  SGo^-  days, 
less  a  fraction,  and  invented  a  curious  leap  year  arrangement. 
Their  "  year,"  together  with  their  calendar  of  months,  we  get 
from  them  through  Julius  Caesar  (slightly  improved  about  three 
hundred  years  ago  by  Pope  Gregory  XIII).  In  arithmetic  the 
Egyptians  dealt  readily  in  numbers  to  millions,  with  the  aid  of  a 
notation  similar  to  that  used  later  by  the  Romans.  Thus,  3423 
was  represented  bv  the  Romans:  M   M    M       C    C    C    C    XX  ill 

and  by  the  Egyptians:  ^l  Z  Z     6666    R    I' 

All  this  learning  is  older  than  the  Greek  by  almost  twice  as 
long  a  time  as  the  Greek  is  older  than  ours  of  to-day.  No 
wonder,  then,  that  (according  to  a  Greek  story)  in  the  last  days 
of  Egyptian  greatness,  a  priest  of  Sais  exclaimed  to  a  traveler 
from  little  Athens:  "0  Solon,  Solon!  You  Greeks  are  mere 
children.  There  is  no  old  opinion  handed  down  among  you 
by  ancient  tradition,  nor  any  science  hoary  with  age ! "  It 
must  be  remembered,  however,  that  this  science  was  the  posses- 
sion only  of  the  priests,  and  perhaps  of  a  few  others. 

24.  Religion.  —  There  was  a  curious  mixture  of  religious. 
Each  family  worshiped  its  ancestors.  Such  ancestor  tcorslup  is 
found,  indeed,  among  all  primitive  peoples,  along  with  a  belief 
in  evil  spirits  and  malicious  ghosts.  There  was  also  a  ivorship 
of  animals.  Cats,  dogs,  bulls,  crocodiles,  and  many  other 
animals  were  sacred.  To  injure  one  of  these  "  gods,"  even  by 
accident,  was  to  incur  the  murderous  fury  of  the  people.  Prol> 
ably  this   worship  was  a  degraded  kind  of  ancestor  worship 


38 


EGYPT 


[§24 


known  as  totemism,  wliich  is  found  among  many  peoples.  North 
American  Indians  of  a  wolf  clan  or  a  bear  clan  —  with  a  fabled 
wolf  or  bear  for  an  ancestor  —  must  on  no  account  injure  the 
ancestral  animal,  or  "  totem."  ^  Even  Rome,  with  its  legend  of 
Romulus  nursed  by  a  wolf,  gives  some  curious  survivals  of  an 
earlier  worship  of  this  sort.     In  Egypt,  however,  the  worship 

of  animals  became  more  widely 
spread,  and  took  on  grosser 
features,  than  has  ever  been 
the  case  elsewhere. 

Above  all  this,  there  was  a 
worship  of  countless  deities 
and  demigods  representing 
sun,  moon,  river,  wind,  storm, 
trees,  and  stones.  Each  vil- 
lage and  town  had  its  special 
god  to  protect  it ;  and  the  gods 
of  the  great  capitals  became 
national  deities.  The  popu- 
lace thought  that  these  nature 
gods  dwelt  in  the  bodies  of 
animals ;  but  with  the  better 
classes  this  nature  ivo7'ship 
mounted  sometimes  to  a  lofty 
and  pure  worship  of  one  God. 
"  God,"  say  some  of  the  in- 
scriptions, "is  a  spirit :  no  man 
knoweth  his  form,"  and  again,  —  "He  is  the  creator  of  the 
heavens  and  the  earth  and  all  that  is  therein."  These  lofty 
thoughts  never  spread  far  among  the  people ;  but  a  few  think- 
ers in  Egypt  seem  to  have  risen  to  them  earlier  than  the 
Hebrew  prophets  did.  The  following  hymn  to  Aten  (the  Sun- 
disk),  symbol  of  Light  and  Life,  was  written  by  an  Egyptian 
king  of  the  fifteenth  century  b.c. 


Isis,  goddess  of  the  sky,  iioldin 
son,  HoRUS,  the  rising  sun 


her 


1  Students  who  know  Cooper's  Laat  of  the  Mohicans  will  recall  an  illustra- 
tion of  totemism. 


§25]  RELIGION  AND   MORALS  39 

"Thy  appearing  is  beautiful  in  the  horizon  of  heaven, 
O  living  Aten,  the  beginning  of  life  !  .  .  . 
Thou  fillest  every  land  with  thy  beauty. 
Thy  beams  encompass  all  lands  which  thou  hast  made. 
Thou  bindest  them  with  thy  love.  .  .  . 
The  birds  fly  in  their  haunts  — 
Their  wings  adoring  thee.  .  .  . 

The  small  bird  in  the  egg,  sounding  within  the  shell  — 
Thou  givest  it  breath  within  the  egg.  .  .  . 
How  many  are  the  things  which  thou  liast  made  ! 
Thou  Greatest  the  land  by  thy  will,  thou  alone, 
With  peoples,  herds,  and  flocks.  .  .  . 
Thou  givest  to  every  man  his  place,  thou  framest  his  life." 

25.  The  idea  of  a  future  life  was  held  in  two  or  three  forms. 
Nearly  all  savage  peoples  believe  that  after  death  the  body 
remains  the  home  of  the  soul,  or  at  least  that  the  soul  lives  on 


Sculptured   Funkral  Couch:  the  soul  is  represented  crouching  by  the 
mummy.  — From  Maspero. 

in  a  pale,  shadowy  existence  near  the  tomb.  If  the  body  be 
not  preserved,  or  if  it  be  not  given  proper  burial,  then,  it  is 
thought,  the  soul  becomes  a  wandering  ghost,  restless  and  harm- 
ful to  men. 

The  early  Egyptians  held  some  such  belief.     The  universal 


40 


EGYPT 


[§25 


practice  of  embalming^  the  body  before  burial  was  connected 
with  it.  They  wished  to  preserve  the  body  as  the  home  for 
the  soul.  In  the  early  tombs,  too,  there  are  always  fouml 
dishes  in  which  had  been  placed  food  and  drink  for  the  ghost, 

just  as  is  done  by  savage 
peoples  to-day. 

These  practices  con- 
tinued through  all  ancient 
Egyptian  history.^  But 
upon  some  such  basis  as 
this  there  finally  grew  up, 
among  the  better  classes, 
a  belief  in  a  truer  im- 
mortality for  those  who 
deserved  it.  The  dead, 
according  to  these  more 
advanced  thinkers,  lived 
in  a  distant  Elysium, 
where  they  had  all  the 
pleasures  of  life  without 
its  pains.  This  haven, 
however,  was  only  for 
those  ghosts  who  knew 
certain  religious  formulas  to  guard  against  destruction  on  the 
perilous  spirit  journey,  and  who,  on  arrival,  should  be  declared 
worthy  by  the  "  Judges  of  the  Dead."  Other  souls  were 
thought  to  perish.  After  this  stage  of  belief  was  reached,  the 
practice  of  embalming  the  body  may  have  come  to  have  some 
connection  with  a  growing  thought  of  its  resurrection. 

The  following  noble  extract  comes  from  the  "  Repudiation  of  Sins."' 
This  was  a  statement  which  the  Egyptian  believed  he  ought  to  be  able  to 

1  "  Embalming  "  is  a  process  of  preparing  a  dead  body  with  drugs  and  spices, 
so  as  to  prevent  decay. 

2  In  part  they  continue  to-day,  after  these  six  thousand  years  of  different 
faiths.  The  Egyptian  peasant  still  buries  food  and  drink  with  his  dead. 
Such  customs  last  long  after  the  ideas  on  which  they  were  based  have  faded ; 
but  there  must  ahouys  have  been  some  live  idea  in  them  atjirst. 


A  Tomb  Painting,  showiu 
dead. 


offerings  to  the 


§25] 


RELIGION  AND   MORALS 


41 


say  truthfully  before  the  "Judges  of  the  Dead."  It  shows  a  keen  sense 
of  duty  to  one's  fellow  men,  which  would  be  highly  honorable  to  any 
religion. 

"  Hail  unto  you,  ye  lords  of  Truth  !  hail  to  thee,  great  god,  lord  of 
Truth  and  Justice  !  .  .  .  1  have  not  committed  iniquity  against  men  !  I  have 
not  oppressed  the  poor  !  .  .  .  I  have  not  laid  labor  upon  any  free  man 
beyond  that  which  he  wrought  for  himself  !  .  .  .  I  have  not  caused  the 
slave  to  be  ill-treated  of  his  master  !  I  have  not  starved  any  man,  I  have 
not  made  any  to  weep,  .  .   .     /  have  not  pulled  down  the  scale  of  the 


Wekjhing  thk  Soul  in  the  scitlcs  ol  truih  Ijefure  the  gods  of  the  dead. — 
Egj'ptiaii  relief;  after  Maspero.  (The  figures  with  animal  heads  are  gods 
and  tlieir  messengers.  The  human  forms  represent  the  dead  who  are 
being  led  to  judgment.) 


balance!  I  have  not  falsiiied  the  beam  of  the  balance!  I  have  not 
taken  away  the  milk  from  the  mouths  of  sucklings.  .  .  . 

"  Grant  that  he  may  come  unto  you  —  he  that  hath  not  lied  nor  borne 
false  witness,  .  .  .  he  that  hath  given  bread  to  the  hungry  and  drink-  to 
him  that  was  athirst,  and  that  hath  clothed  the  naked  loith  gai'vients.''' 

Some  other  declarations  in  this  statement  run  :  "  I  have  not  blas- 
phemed;  "  "I  have  not  stolen;"  "I  have  not  slain  any  man  treacher- 
ously;" "I  have  not  made  false  accusation;"  "I  have  not  eaten  my 
heart  with  envy."  These  five  contain  the  substance  of  lialf  of  the  Ten 
Connnandments,  —  hundreds  of  years  before  Moses  brought  the  tables  of 
stone  to  the  Children  of  Israel. 


42  EOYPT  (§  26 

26.  Moral  Character.  —  The  ideal  of  character,  indicated 
above,  is  contained  in  many  other  Egyptian  inscriptions.  Thus, 
some  three  thousand  years  before  Christ,  a  noble  declares  in 
his  epitaph  :  "  I  have  caused  no  child  of  tender  years  to  mourn ; 
I  have  despoiled  no  widow;  I  have  driven  away  no  toiler  of 
the  soil  [who  asked  for  help]  .  .  .  None  about  me  have  been 
unfortunate  or  starving  in  my  time."  ^  Of  course,  like  other 
people,  the  Egyptian  fell  short  of  his  ideal.  On  the  other  hand, 
it  is  not  fair  to  expect  him  to  come  up  to  our  modern  standard 
in  all  ways.  The  modesty  and  refinement  which  we  value  were 
lacking  among  the  Egyptians;  but  they  were  a  kindly  people. 
The  sympathy  expressed  by  their  writers  for  the  poor  (§  15)  is 
a  note  not  heard  elsewhere  in  ancient  literature.  Scholars 
agree  in  giving  the  Egyptians  high,  praise  as  "  more  moral, 
sympathetic,  and  conscientious  than  any  other  ancient  people." 
These  words  belong  to  Professor  Petrie,  the  great  authority  on 
Egyptian  antiquities.  The  same  scholar  sums  up  the  matter 
thus :  "  The  Egyptian,  without  our  Christian  sense  of  sin  or 
self-reproach,  sought  out  a  fair  and  noble  life.  .  .  .  His  aim 
was  to  be  an  easy,  good-natured,  quiet  gentleman,  and  to  make 
life  as  agreeable  as  he  could  to  all  about  him." 

THE   STORY 

27.  The  Old  Kingdom.  —  It  is  convenient  to  mark  off  seven 
periods  in  the  history  of  Egypt  (§§  27-33).  For  more  than  a 
thousand  years  after  Menes  (3400-2400  b.c),  the  capital  re- 
mained at  Memphis  in  Lower  Egypt.  This  period  is  known  as 
the  Old  Kingdom.  It  is  marked  by  the  complete  consolidation 
of  the  country  under  the  pharaohs,  by  the  building  of  the 
pyramids  and  sphinxes,  and  by  the  rapid  develojjment  of  the 
civilization  which  we  have  been  studying.  The  only  names  we 
care  much  for  in  this  age  are  Menes  and  Cheops  (§  21). 

28.  The  Middle  Kingdom.  —  Toward  2400  b.c,  the  power  of 
the  pharaohs  declined ;  but  the  glory  of  the  monarchy  was  re- 

1  The  same  ideas  of  duty  are  set  forth  more  at  leugth  in  extracts  given  in 
Davis'  Readings,  Vol.  I,  Nos.  0  and  10. 


§28] 


THE   POLITICAL  STORY 


43 


stored  by  a  new  line  of  kings  at  Thebes  in  the  upper  valley. 
Probably  this  was  the  result  of  civil  war  between  Upper  and 
Lower  Egypt.  The  Theban  line  of  pharaohs  are  known  as 
the  Middle  Kingdom.  Their  rule  lasted  some  four  hundred 
years  (2400-2000  b.c),  and  makes  the  second  period.  The  two 
features  of  this  period  are  foreign  conquest  and  a  new  develop- 
ment of  resources  at  home. 
Ethioj^ia,  on  the  south, 
was  subdued,  with  many 
Negro  tribes ;  and  parts 
of  Syria  were  conquered  ; 
but  the  chief  glory  of  this 
age,  and  of  all  Egyptian 
history,  was  the  develop- 
ment of  the  marvelous 
system  of  irrigation  that 
has  been  described  in  §  1 7 
above.  The  pharaohs  of 
this  period,  in  happy  con- 
trast with  the  vain  and 
cruel  pyramid-builders, 
cared  most  to  encourage 
trade,  explore  unknown 
regions,  improve  roads, 
establish  wells  and  reser- 
voirs. A  king  of  2200  n.c. 
boasts  in  his  ejiitaph  — 
probably  with  reason  — 
that  all  his  commands  had  "ever  increased  the  love"  of  his 
subjects  toward  him.  Egyptian  commerce  now  reached  to 
Crete  on  the  north,  and  probably  to  other  islands  and  coasts 
of  the  Mediterranean,  and  to  distant  parts  of  Ethiopia  on  the 
south.  One  of  the  greatest  works  of  the  time  was  the  opening 
of  a  canal  from  a  mouth  of  the  Nile  to  the  Red  Sea,  so  that 
ships  might  pass  from  that  sea  to  the  ]\Iediterrauean.  This 
gave  a  great  impulse  to  trade  with  Arabia  (§  19). 


(_'Hi:<irs  (iiinie  pinprrly  calliMl  Kluifu), 
builder  of  the  Great  Pyramid :  a  portrait- 
statue  discovered  in  H)()2  by  Flinders 
Petrie.  As  Professor  Petrie  says,  "The 
first  thinj;  that  strikes  us  is  the  enormous 
driving  power  of  the  man." 


44 


EGYPT 


(§29 


29.  The  Hyksos.  —  This  outburst  of  glory  was  followed  by 
a  strange  decay  (I'OOO-IGOO  n.c.  —  the  "third  period"),  during 
which  Egypt  became  the  prey  of  roving  tribes  from  Arabia. 
From  the  title  of  their  chiefs,  these  conquerors  were  called 
Hyksos,  or  Shepherd  Kings.  They  maintained  themselves  in 
Egypt  about  two  hundred  years.  For  a  time  they  harried  the 
land  cruelly,  as  invaders;  then,  from  a  capital  in  the  lower 
Delta,    they   ruled   the  country   through   tributary  Egyptian 


Sculptors  at  work  on  colossal  figures.  —  From  an  Egyptian  relief. 

kings ;  and  finally  they  acquired  the  civilization  of  the  country 
and  became  themselves  Egyptian  sovereigns.  It  was  this 
Arabian  conquest  that  first  brought  the  horse  into  Egypt  (§  18). 
After  this  period,  kings  and  nobles  are  represented  in  war 
chariots  and  in  pleasure  carriages. 

30.  The  New  Empire.  —  A  line  of  native  monarchs  had  re- 
mained in  power  at  Thebes,  as  under-kings.  About  1600  b.c  , 
after  a  long  struggle,  these  princes  expelled  tlie  Hyksos.  Dur- 
ing this  "  fourth  period,"  1600-1330,  Egypt  reached  its  highest 
pitch  of  military  grandeur.  The  long  struggle  with  the  Hyksos 
had  turned  the  attention  of  the  people  from  industry  to  war ; 
and  the  horse  made  long  marches  easier  for  the  leaders.  A 
series  of  mighty  kings  recovered  Ethiopia,  conquered  all  western 
Syria,  and  at  last  reached  the  Euphrates,  ruling  for  a  brief  time 
even  over  Babylonia. 


30] 


THE   POLITICAL   STORY 


45 


Here,  on  the  banks  of  a  mighty  river,  strangely  like  their 
own  Nile,  they  found  the  home  of  another  civilization,  equal 
to  their  own,  but  different.     For  nearly  four  thousand  years, 


these  two  earliest  civilizations  had  been  growing  up  in  igno- 
rance of  each  other.^  Now  a  new  era  opened.  The  long  ages 
of  isolation  gave  way  to  an  age  of  intercourse.'^     The  vast  dis- 

1  Tlie  Egyptians  did  know  something  of  the  Euphrates  culture,  because  it 
had,  long  before,  extended  into  Syria  (§  .W),  which  Egyptian  armies  and 
traders  had  visited  occasionally  for  some  centuries;  but  now  first  they  saw  it 
in  its  full  magnificence. 

2  Egypt  did  not  admit  foreigners  into  her  own  Nile  district,  except  the 
otficial  representatives  of  other  governments.  But  the  Syrian  lands  were  the 
middle  ground  where  the  two  civilizations  held  intercourse. 


46 


EGYPT 


(§31 


tricts  between  the  Eui)lirates  and  the  Nile  became  covered  with 
a  network  of  roads.  Tliese  were  garrisoned  here  and  there  by 
fortresses ;  and  over  them,  for  centuries,  there  passed  hurrying 
streams  of  officials,  couriers,  and  merchants.  The  brief  su- 
premacy of  Egypt  over  the  Euphrates  district  was  also  the  Jirst 
political  union  of  the  Orient.  In  some  degree  it  paved  the  way 
for  the  greater  empires  to  follow,  —  of  Assyria,  of  Persia,  of 
Alexander,  and  of  Rome.     The  most  famous  Egyptian  rulers  of 

this  age  are  TJiiitmosis^ 
III,  and  Barneses  II.  The 
student  will  find  interest- 
ing passages  about  both 
these  monarchs  in  Davis' 
Readings,  Vol.  I. 

31.  Decline.  —  A  long 
age  of  weakness  (the 
"fifth  period,"  about 
1330-640)  soon  invited 
attack.  The  priests  had 
drawn  into  their  hands  a 
large  part  of  the  land  of 
Egypt.  This  land  paid  no 
taxes,  and  the  pharaohs 
felt  obliged  to  tax  more 
heavily  the  already  over- 
urdened  peasantry.  Population  declined;  revenues  fell  off. 
Early  in  this  period  of  decline,  the  Hebrews  escaped  from 
Egypt.  Driven  by  famine,  they  had  come  from  Syria  during 
the  rule  of  the  Arabian  Hyksos,  who  were  friendly  to  them. 
The  great  monarchs  of  the  New  Empire  reduced  them  to  serf- 
dom. Now  they  escaped  from  a  weak  pharaoh,  to  seek  refuge 
again  in  the  desert  (§  59). 

The  government  was  no  longer  strong  enough  in  armies  for 
the  defense  of  the  frontiers.     Dominion  in  both  Africa   and 


Sculptured  Head  of  Thutmosis  III 
(about  1470  B.C.),  who  in  twelve  great 
campaigns  first  carried  Egyptian  arms 
from  the  isthmus  to  Nineveh. 


1  All  difficult  proper  names  have  the  pronunciation  shown  in  the  index. 


32] 


THE   POLITICAL  STORY 


47 


Asia  shrank,  until  Egypt  was  driven  back  within  her  ancient 
bounds.  The  Hittites  (§  7),  descending  from  the  slopes  of  the 
Taurus  Mountains  (map,  page  45),  overthrew  Egyptian  power 
in  Syria;  and  the  tribes  of  the  Sahara,  aided  by  "strange 
peoples  of  the  sea"  (Greeks  among  them),  threatened  to  seize 
even  the  Delta  itself.  In 
730  B.C.  the  Ethiopians 
overran  the  country ;  and, 
in  672,  Egypt  Jinally  be- 
came subject  to  Assyria 
(§  40). 

Dates  are  not  fixed  exactly 
in  Egyptian  history  until 
about  this  time.  For  all 
earlier  periods,  a  margin  of  a 
century  or  two  must  be  al- 
lowed for  errors  in  calculation. 
We  know  the  order  of  events, 
but  not  their  precise  year. 

This  vagueness  is  due  to 
the  fact  that  ancient  peoples 
did  not  count  time  as  we  do 
from  one  fixed  point :  instead, 
they  reckoned  from  the  build- 
ing of  a  city,  or  from  the  be- 
ginning of  the  reigns  of  their 
kings.  An  inscription  may  tell  us  that  a  certain  event  took  place  in  the 
tenth  year  of  the  reign  of  Rameses ;  but  we  do  not  know  positively  in 
just  what  year  Rameses  began  to  reign. 

32.  The  Sixth  Period,  653-525.  —  After  twenty  years  of 
Assyrian  rule,-  Psammetichus  restored  Egy])tian  independence 
and  became  the  pharaoh.  He  had  been  a  military  adventurer, 
apparently  of  foreign  blood ;  and  had  been  employed  by  the 
Assyrians  as  a  tributary  prince.  During  her  former  greatness, 
although  her  own  traders  visited  other  lands,  Eg3^pt  had  kept 
herself  jealously  closed  against  strangers.  But  Psammeticlius 
threw  open  the  doors  to  foreigners.     In  particular,  he  Avelcomed 


Ramksks  II,  a  conquering  pharaoli  of  about 
1375  B.C.  This  colossal  statue  stands  in 
the  ruins  of  the  palace  at  Luxor. 


48  EGYPT  [§  33 

the  Greeks,  who  were  just  coming  into  notice  as  soldiers  and 
sailors.  Not  only  did  individual  Greek  travelers  (§§  21,  23, 
156)  visit  the  country,  but  a  Greek  colony,  Nmicratis,  was  es- 
tablished there,  and  large  numbers  of  Greek  soldiers  served  in 
the  army.  Indeed  Sais,  the  new  capital  of  Psammetichus 
and  his  son,  thronged  with  Greek  adventurers.  This  was  the 
time,  accordingly,  when  Egypt  "  fulfilled  her  mission  among 
the  nations."  She  "  had  lit  the  torch  of  civilization  "  ages  be- 
fore ;  now  she  passed  it  on  to  the  western  world  through  this 
younger  race. 

Neco,  the  second  monarch  of  this  new  line  of  kings,  ruled 
about  600  B.C.     He  was  greatly  interested  in  reviving  the  old 
Egyptian  commerce.     His 
n  ^    g=>         efforts  to  restore  Egyptian 
I  -^.'^^tt        influence  in  Syria  and  Ara- 
bia were  foiled  by  the  rise 
of  a  new  empire  in  the  Eu- 


PSAMMETICHUS. 


phrates  valley  (§  42) ;  and  he  failed  also  in  a  noble  attempt 
to  reopen  the  ancient  canal  connecting  the  Red  Sea  with 
the  Mediterranean  (§  28).  But,  in  searching  for  another 
route  for  vessels  between  those  waters,  he  did  succeed  in  a  re- 
markable attempt.  One  of  Ids  ships  sailed  around  Africa, 
starting  from  the  Red  Sea  and  returning,  three  years  later,  by 
the  Mediterranean.  Herodotus  (§  21),  who  tells  us  the  story, 
adds  :  "  On  their  return  the  sailors  reported  (others  may  be- 
lieve them  but  I  will  not)  that  in  sailing  from  east  to  west 
around  Africa  they  had  the  sun  on  their  right  hand."  This 
report,  Avhich  Herodotus  could  not  believe,  is  good  proof  to  us 
that  the  story  of  the  sailors  was  true. 

33.  Egyptian  History  merges  in  Greek  and  Roman  History.  — 
The  last  age  of  Egyptian  independence  lasted  only  128  years. 
Then  followed  the  "  seventh  period," — one  of  long  dependence 
upon  foreign  powers.  Persia  conquered  the  country  in  525  B.C. 
(§  72),  and  ruled  it  for  two  centuries  under  Persian  governors. 
Then  Alexander  the  Great  establislied  Greek  sway  over  all  the 
Persian  world  (§§  278  ft".).     At  his  death  Egypt  became  again  a 


§33]  THE   POLITICAL  STORY  49 

separate  state ;  but  it  was  ruled  by  the  Greek  Ptolemies  from 
their  new  Greek  capital  at  Alexandria.  Cleopatra,  the  last  of 
this  line  of  monarchs,  fell  before  Augustus  Caesar  in  30  b.c,  and 
Egypt  became  a  Roman  province.  Native  rule  has  never  been 
restored. 

Exercises.  —  1.    Make  a  summary  of  the  thino:s  we  owe  to  Egj'pt. 

2.  AVhat  can  you  learn  from  those  extracts  upon  Egypt  iu  Davis'  Readings, 
which  have  not  been  referred  to  in  this  chapter  ?  (If  the  class  have 
enough  of  those  valuable  little  books  in  their  hands,  this  topic  may  make 
all  or  part  of  a  day's  lesson  :  if  only  a  copy  or  two  is  in  the  library,  one 
student  may  well  make  a  short  report  to  the  class,  with  brief  readings.) 

3.  Do  you  regard  the  first  pyramid  or  Lake  Moeris  or  the  canal  from  the 
Nile  to  the  Red  Sea  as  the  truest  monument  to  Egyptian  greatness  ? 

4.  Students  who  wish  to  read  further  upon  ancient  Egypt  ^^^ll  find  the 
titles  of  three  or  four  of  the  best  books  for  their  purpose  in  the  Appendix, 
—  Baikie,  Breasted,  Ilommel,  or  Myers. 


CHAPTER   III 

THE  TIGRIS-EUPHRATES   STATES 

GEOGRAPHY 

34.  The  Two  Rivers.  —  Across  Asia,  from  the  Red  to  the 

Yellow  Sea,  stretches  a  mighty  desert.  Its  smaller  and  west- 
ern part,  a  series  of  low,  sandy  plains,  is  really  a  continuation 
of  the  African  desert.  The  eastern  portion  (which  lies  almost 
wholly  beyond  the  field  of  our  ancient  history,  §  4)  consists  of 
lofty  plateaus  broken  up  by  rugged  mountains.  The  two  parts 
are  separated  from  each  other  by  a  patch  of  luxuriant  vegeta- 
tion, reaching  away  from  the  Persian  Gulf  to  the  northwest. 

This  oasis  is  the  work  of  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates.  (In  this 
connection  see  map  facing  p.  13.)  These  twin  rivers  have 
never  interested  men  so  much  as  the  more  mysterious  Nile  has; 
but  they  have  played  a  hardly  less  important  part  in  history. 
Rising  on  opposite  sides  of  the  snow-capped  mountains  of 
Armenia,  they  approach  each  other  by  great  sweeps  until  they 
form  a  common  valley ;  then  they  flow  in  parallel  channels  for 
the  greater  part  of  their  course,  uniting  just  before  they  reach 
the  Gulf.  The  land  between  them  has  always  been  named 
from  them.  The  Jews  called  it  "  Syria  of  the  Two  Rivers  " ; 
the  Greeks,  Mesopotamia,  or  "  Between  the  Rivers  "  ;  the  mod- 
ern Arabs,  "  The  Island." 

35.  Divisions  of  the  Valley.  —  The  valley  had  three  distinct 
parts,  two  of  which  were  of  special  importance.  The  first  of 
these  was  Chaldea,^  the  district  near  the  mouth  of  the  rivers. 

1  This  is  tlae  name  that  has  been  used  for  many  centuries.  It  seems  best  to 
keep  it,  though  we  know  now  that  it  is  inaccurate  for  the  early  period.  The 
Chaldeans  proper  did  not  enter  the  valley  until  long  after  its  civilization 
began. 

50 


§  36]  GEOGRAPHY  51 

Like  the  delta  of  the  Nile,  Chaldea  consisted  of  deposits  of 
soil  carried  out  in  the  course  of  ages  into  the  sea.  In  area  it 
equaled  modern  Denmark,  and  was  twice  the  size  of  the  real 
Egypt.  As  with  Egypt,  its  fertility  in  ancient  times  was  main- 
tained by  an  annual  overflow  of  the  river,  regulated  by  dikes, 
canals,  and  reservoirs.  Wheat  and  barley  are  believed  to  have 
been  native  there.  Certainly  it  was  from  Chaldea  that  they 
spread  west  to  Europe. 

The  Euphrates  district  is  more  dependent  upon  artificial  aids  for  irri- 
gation than  the  Nile  valley  is  ;  and  in  modern  times  Chaldea  has  lost  its 
ancient  fertility.  During  the  past  thousand  years,  under  Turkish  rule, 
the  last  vestiges  of  the  ancient  engineering  works  have  gone  to  ruin. 
The  myriads  of  canals  are  choked  with  sand ;  and,  as  a  result,  in  this 
early  home  of  civilization,  the  uncontrolled  overflow  of  the  river  turns  the 
eastern  districts  into  a  dreary  marsh ;  while  on  the  west  the  desert  has 
drifted  in,  to  cover  the  most  fertile  soil  in  the  world ;  —  and  the  sites  of 
scores  of  mighty  cities  are  only  shapeless  mounds,  where  sometimes 
nomad  Arabs  camp  for  a  night. 

To  the  north  of  Chaldea,  the  rich  plain  gives  way  to  a 
rugged  table-land.  The  more  fertile  portion  lies  on  the  Tigris 
side,  and  is  the  second  important  part  of  the  valley.  It  was 
finally  to  take  the  name  Assyria. 

The  western  half  of  the  upper  valley  is  sometimes  called 
Mesopotamia  Proper.  This  third  district  was  less  fertile  than 
the  others,  and  never  became  the  seat  of  a  powerful  state.  It 
opened,  however,  upon  the  northern  parts  of  Syria,  and  so  made 
part  of  the  great  roadway  between  the  Euphrates  and  the  Nile. 

THE   STORY 

36.  The  People.  —  The  rich  Euphrates  valley,  like  the  Nile 
region,  attracted  invaders  from  all  sides  in  prehistoric  times. 
It  was  less  completely  walled  in,  indeed,  than  Egypt  (§§  6,  7) ; 
and  such  inroads  therefore  continued  longer  and  on  a  larger 
scale  than  in  the  Nile  lands.  Successive  waves  of  conquering 
tribes  from  the  Arabian  desert  finally  established  a  Semitic^ 

1  Semites  and  Seinitic  are  explained  in  a  paraf^raph  on  the  following;  i)age. 


52  THE   TIGRIS-EUPHRATES    STATES  [§37 

language  in  Chaldea;  but  tlie  l)ulk  of  the  inhabitants  never 
became  Semites  in  api)earance  or  blood.  They  kept  in  large 
measure  the  characteristics  of  older  peoples,  who  had  originally 
developed  the  civilization  of  the  valley,  and  who  had  spoken  a 
tongue  which  in  historic  times  had  become  a  "dead  language." 
That  older  civilization,  however,  had  not  taken  so  firm  a 
hold  on  the  Tigris  district;  and  the  Assyrians  became  mainly 
Semitic,  —  allied  to  the  Arabs  in  blood.  The  men  of  the  south 
(Chaldeans,  or  Babylonians)  were  quick-witted,  industrious, 
gentle,  pleasure-loving,  fond  of  literature  and  of  peaceful  pur- 
suits. The  hook-nosed,  larger-framed,  fiercer  Assyrians  cared 
mainly  for  war  and  the  gains  of  commerce,  and  had  only  such 
arts  and  learning  as  they  could  borrow  from  their  neighbors. 
They  delighted  in  cruelty  and  gore.  In  the  old  inscriptions, 
their  kings  brag  incessantly  of  torturing,  flaying  alive,  and 
impaling  thousands  of  captives. 

The  languages  of  the  Arabs,  Jews,  Assyrians,  and  of  some  other  neigh- 
boring peoples,  such  as  the  ancient  Phoenicians  (§  54),  are  closely  related. 
The  whole  group  of  such  languages  is  called  Semitic,  and  the  peoples 
who  speak  them  are  called  Semites  (descendants  of  Shem).  Similarity 
of  languages  does  not  necessarily  prove  that  the  peoples  are  related  in 
blood :  it  means  more  commonly  only  that  their  civilizations  have  been 
derived  one  from  another.  But  these  Semitic  races  do  seem  to  have  had 
a  close  blood  relationship. 

37.  The  Early  City-States.  —  As  in  Egypt,  so  in  this  double 
valley  there  clustered  many  cities  at  a  very  early  time,  —  before 
5000  B.C.  Each  such  city  was  a  "  state  "  (§  11,  note)  by  itself, 
under  its  own  king,  and  it  controlled  the  surrounding  hamlets 
and  farming  territory.  These  little  states  waged  innumerable 
wars  with  one  another  and  with  outside  invaders ;  but  they  also 
managed  to  develop  the  culture  which  was  to  characterize  the 
country  in  its  historic  age.  Each  cit}',  indeed,  had  a  literature 
of  its  own,  written  in  libraries  of  brick  (§  48),  and  our  scholars 
are  learning  more  of  this  ancient  period  every  day  from  the 
study  of  the  remains  recently  discovered.  Only  four  cities, 
out  of  scores,  will  be  mentioned  in  this  book,  —  four  leading 


§38]  EXPANSION   INTO   SYRIA  53 

cities,  whose  names,  too,  are  familiar  from  the  Old  Testament, 
—  Accad  (Agade),  Ur,  Babylon,  and  Nineveh.  The  first  three 
are  in  the  southern  Euphrates  district :  Nineveh  is  in  Assyria, 
on  the  Tigris. 

Gradually,  war  united  the  rival  states  into  larger  ones  ;  and 
then  contests  for  power  among  these,  with  ou.tside  conquests, 
gave  rise  to  three  yreat  empires,  whose  story  we  shall  survey 
rapidly.  Two  of  these  empires  were  in  the  south,  with  their 
chief  center  at  Babylon  (First  and  Second  Babylonian  Em- 
pires). Between  their  two  periods  there  arose  the  still 
mightier  Assyrian  Empire,  with  Nineveh  for  its  capital. 

An  empire  is  a  state  containing  many  sub-states  and  one  ruling  state. 
Egypt  was  called  a  kingdom  while  it  was  confined  to  the  Nile  valley,  but 
an  empire  when  its  sway  extended  over  Ethiopia  and  Syria  (§  30). 

38.  Early  Attempts  at  Empire.  —  About  2800  b.c,  Sargon,^  king 
of  Accad,  made  himself  ruler  of  all  Chaldea.  Then  in  a  series  of 
victorious  campaigns,  he  carried  his  authority  over  the  northern 
part  of  the  river  valley,  and  even  to  the  distant  Mediterranean 
coast.  His  empire  fell  to  pieces  with  his  death,  from  lack  of 
organization;  but  his  campaigns  had  transplanted  the  Euphrates 
culture  into  Syria  to  take  lasting  root  there.  Chaldean  traders 
spread  the  seed  more  widely.  For  more  than  two  thousand 
years,  the  fashions  of  Chaldea  were  copied  in  the  cities  of 
Syria ;  and  her  cuneiform  ^  script  was  vised,  and  her  literature 
was  read,  by  great  numbers  of  people  all  over  western  Asia. 

Ur  succeeded  Accad  as  mistress  of  the  land.  But  the  cities  of 
the  valley  were  soon  overrun  by  new  barbarians  from  the  Ara- 
bian desert.  These  conquerors  finally  adopted  thoroughly  the 
civilization  of  the  country,  and  took  Babylon  for  their  chief  city. 

1  The  Babylonians  of  about  (iOO  is.c.  rediscovered  a  certain  inscription  of 
the  son  of  Sargon,  long  buried  even  in  that  day,  and  fixed  his  date  from  it  at 
3200  years  before  their  own  time.  Very  recent  discoveries,  however,  prove 
that  they  placed  him  a  thousand  years  too  early.  Davis'  Readings,  Vol.  I, 
No.  17,  gives  the  Babylonian  story. 

'•^  See  §  47  for  explanation  of  this  term. 


54  THE   TKiRTS-EUPHRATES  STATES  [§39 

39.  The  First  Babylonian  Empire  begins  strictly  with  the 
rule  of  Hammurabi,  wlio  lived  about  as  many  years  before  the 
birth  of  Christ  as  we  do  after  it.  In  1917  b.(;.  he  completed 
the  consolidation  of  the  states  of  the  Euphrates  valley  into  one 
empire.  Later,  he  extended  the  rule  of  Babylon  to  the  bounds 
of  Sargon's  conquests  —  and  with  more  lasting  results.  Ever 
since,  the  name  Babylon  has  remained  a  symbol  for  magnifi- 
cence and  power. 

During  the  fourth  century  of  this  empire  {about  1500  £.0.),  it 
came  in  contact  ivith  the  "  New  Empire^^  of  Egypt  to  ichich  for  a 
time  it  lost  most  of  its  doniinions  (§  30). 

40.  The  Assyrian  Empire.  —  Assyria  first  comes  to  notice  in 
the  nineteenth  century  b.o.  It  was  then  a  dependent  province, 
belonging  to  the  Babylonian  Empire.  Six  hundred  years  later 
it  had  become  a  rival ;  but  its  supremacy  begins  two  centuries 
later  still,  about  1100  b.c.  New  invaders  from  Arabia  were 
harrying  the  Euphrates  country  ;  and  this  made  it  easier  for 
Tiglath-Pileser  I,  king  of  Assyria,  to  master  Babylonia.  This 
king  ruled  from  the  Persian  Gulf  to  the  Mediterranean;  but 
after  his  death  his  dominions  fell  apart.  The  real  Assyrian 
Empire  dates  from  745  b.c. 

In  that  year,  the  adventurer  Pul  seized  the  throne.  He  had 
been  a  gardener.  Now  he  took  the  name  of  the  first  great  con- 
queror, Tiglath-Pileser  (II),  and  soon  established  the  most 
powerful  empire  the  world  had  so  far  seen.  It  was  larger  than 
any  that  had  gone  before  it  (map  opposite),  and  it  was  better 
organized.  In  the  case  of  each  of  the  earlier  empires,  the  sub- 
ject kingdoms  had  been  left  under  the  native  rulers,  as  tribu- 
tary kings.  Such  princes  could  never  lose  a  natural  ambition 
to  become  again  independent  sovereigns  ;  and  if  they  attempted 
revolt,  the  people  were  sure  to  rally  loyally  to  them  as  to  their 
proper  rulers.  Thus  this  loose  organization  tempted  constantly 
to  rebellion.  It  now  gave  wa}^  to  a  stronger  one.  The  subject 
kingdoms  were  made  more  completely  into  parts  of  one  state 
and  icere  ruled  by  Assyrian  lieutenants  (satraps).  "We  call  such 
subordinate  parts  of  an  empire  by  the  name  provinces.     This 


40] 


THE  ASSYRIAN  EMPIRE 


55 


new  invention  in  government  ivas  Assyria's  chief  bequest  to  the 
later  v:orld. 

The  next  great  Assyrian  king  was  Sargon  II,  who  carried 
away  the  Ten  Tribes  of  Israel  into  captivity  (722  b.c).  This 
transplanting  of  a  rebellious  people,  or  at  least  of  the  better 
classes  among  them,  to  prevent  rebellion,  was  a  favorite  device 


M  E  D  1  T  E  K  R  A  N  E  A  N  /S,*^ 


■X    ' 


,  Jerusiiljjin^A  (<    K  \  1    ' 


/      ARAB 


Itiih.vluiiiiiti  Kmi)!^,  19()()  H 

Assvihiii  Kinpire,  070  11.0. 

iiicliKliiii;  niso  old  Buh.vlonlaD  Empire 

SCALE  OF  MILES 

0  Wl         MO  sSo         43o  5^0         oJo 


of  the  Assyrians.  Longfellow's  picture,  in  Evangeline,  of  the 
removal  of  a  small  po})ulation  in  modern  times  with  all  possi- 
ble gentleness,  will  help  us  to  imagine  the  misery  that  must 
have  come  from  such  transportation  of  whole  nations  by  over- 
land journeys  of  a  thousand  miles. 

Sargon's    son,    Senunclierib,  is   the   most   famous   Assyrian 
monarch.     He  subdued  the  king  of  Judah,'  but  he  will   be 

1  2  Kings  xviii.     For  the  Assyrian  story  see  Davis'  Readings,  Vol.  I,  No.  12. 


56  THE   TIGRIS-EUPHRATES  STATES  [§41 

better  remembered  from  the  Jewish  account  of  a  mysterious 
destruction  of  his  army,  perhaps  in  another  expedition, — 
smitten  by  ^'  the  angel  of  the  Lord."  This  is  the  incident 
commemorated  by  Byron's  lines :  — 

"The  Assyrian  came  down  like  a  wolf  on  the  fo]<l, 
And  his  cohorts  were  gleaming  with  purple  and  gold. 

JJke  leaves  of  the  forest  when  autumn  hath  blown, 
That  host,  on  the  morrow,  lay  withered  and  strown." 

The  empire  recovered  quickly  from  this  disaster ;  and  in 
672  B.C.  Sennacherib's  son,  Esarhaddon,  subdued  Egypt  (§  31). 
TJiis  teas  the  second  2^oJitical  union  of  the  East.  It  was  much 
more  complete  than  the  first  one  of  several  centuries  earlier 
(§  30) ;  and  the  territory  was  larger,  for  the  Assyrians  were 
reaching  out  west  and  east  into  the  new  regions  of  Asia  Minor 
and  of  Media  on  the  Plateau  of  Iran. 

41.  Fall  of  Assyria.  —  This  wide  rule  was  short-lived,  — 
happily  so,  for  no  other  great  empire  has  ever  so  delighted  in 
blood.  Disagreeable  as  it  is,  the  student  should  read  one  of 
the  records  in  which  an  Assyrian  king  exults  over  his  fiendish 
cruelties.    The  following  one  is  by  Assur-Natsir-Pul,  850  b.c.  :  — 

"They  did  not  embrace  my  feet.  With  combat  and  with  slaughter  I 
attacked  the  city  and  captured  it ;  three  thousand  of  their  lighting  men . 
I  slew  with  the  sword.  Their  spoil,  their  goods,  their  oxen,  and  their 
sheep  I  carried  away.  The  numerous  captives  I  burned  with  fire.  I  cap- 
tured many  of  the  soldiers  alive.  I  cut  off  the  hands  and  feet  of  .some  ; 
I  cut  off  the  noses,  the  ears,  and  the  fingers  of  others  ;  the  eyes  of  the 
numerous  soldiers  I  put  out.  I  built  up  a  pyramid  of  the  living  and  a 
pyramid  of  heads.  In  the  middle  of  them  I  suspended  their  heads  on 
vine  stems  in  the  neighborhood  of  their  city.  Their  young  men  and  their 
maidens  I  burned  as  a  holocaust.  The  city  I  overthrew,  dug  up,  and 
burned  with  fire.     I  annihilated  it." 

Of  another  city:  "The  nobles,  as  many  as  had  revolted,  1  flayed; 
with  their  skins  I  covered  the  pyramid.  Some  of  them  I  immured  in  the 
midst  of  the  pyramid  ;  others  above  the  pyramid  I  impaled  on  stakes  ; 
others  round  about  the  pyramid  I  planted  on  stakes.'" 

See  also  Sennacherib's  boast,  at  the  close  of  No.  12  in  Davis'  Headings, 
Vol.  I. 


§42]  THE   ASSYRIAN   EMPIRE  57 

Against  sueli  cruelty  and  against  the  crushing  Assyrian 
taxation,  there  rankled  a  passionate  hatred  in  the  hearts  of  the 
oppressed  peoples.^  After  twenty  j^ears  of  subjection,  Egypt 
broke  away.  Twenty  years  later,  Babylon  followed.  Scythian 
hordes  poured  in  repeatedly  from  the  north,  to  devastate  the 
empire ;  and  in  606  the  new  power  of  the  Medes  (§  72),  aided 
by  Babylonia,  captured  Nineveh  itself.  The  Assyrian  Empire 
disappeared,  and  the  proud  "  city  of  blood,"  which  had  razed 
so  many  other  cities,  was  given  over  to  sack  and  pillage.  Two 
hundred  years  later  the  Greek  Xenophon  could  not  even  learn 
the  name  of  the  crumbling  ruins,  when  he  came  upon  them,  in  the 
'''  Retreat  of  the  Ten  Thousand  "  (§  257).  All  signs  of  human 
habitation  vanished,  and  the  very  site  was  forgotten,  until  its 
rediscovery  in  recent  times. 

Ancient  and  modern  judgments  upon  Assyria  are  at  one. 
Nahum  closed  his  passionate  exultation,  —  "  All  that  hear  the 
news  of  thy  fate  shall  clap  their  hands  over  thee ;  for  whom 
hath  not  thy  wickedness  afflicted  continually."  And  says  Dr. 
Davis  (Introduction  to  No.  14  of  his  Headings,  Vol.  I):  "Its 
luxuries  and  refinements  were  all  borrowed  from  other  lands : 
its  insatiable  love  of  conquest  and  slaughter  was  its  own." 

42.  The  New  Babylonian  Empire.  —  Babylon  had  risen  in 
many  a  fierce  revolt  during  the  five  centuries  of  Assyrian  rule. 
Sennacherib  declares,  with  great  exaggeration  certainly,  that 
on  one  occasion  he  razed  it  to  the  ground  in  punishment :  "  I 
laid  the  houses  waste  from  foundation  to  roof  with  fire. 
Temple  and  tower  I  tore  down  and  threw  into  the  canal.  I 
dug  ditches  through  the  city,  and  laid  waste  its  site.  Greater 
than  the  deluge  was  its  annihilation." 

In  625  came  a  successful  rebellion.  Then  (as  noticed  in  §  41 ) 
Babylonia  and  Media  soon  shared  between  them  the  old  Assyr- 
ian Empire.  The  Second  Babylonian  Empire  lasted  less  than 
a  century.     The  middle  half  of  the  period  —  the  most  glorious 

1  The  student  should  read  the  terrible  denunci.ation  of  Nineveh  by  the 
Hebrew  proi)h('t  in  the  year  of  its  fall  (Book  of  Nahum,  iii,  1-lit).  Cf.  also 
Isaiah  xiii,  lG-22,  and  Jeremiah  1  and  li. 


58  THE   TIGRIS-EUPHRATES  STATES  [§43 

part,  604-561  b.c.  — falls  to  the  reign  of  Nelmchadnezzar.  The 
reviving  Egyptian  power,  under  Neco,  was  checked  in  its  effort 
to  extend  its  sway  into  Asia  (§  32).  Eebellious  Jerusalem  was 
sacked,  and  the  Jews  were  carried  away  into  the  Babylonian 
captivity.  The  ancient  limits  of  the  First  Empire  were 
restored,  with  some  additions.     Babylon  was  rebuilt  on  a  more 

magnificent  scale,  and 


T>^>T^t:  YR=^T»^^ 


Nebuchadnezzar. 


the  ancient  engineer- 
ing works  were  re- 
newed.^ But  in  538, 
soon  after  this  reign, 

Babylon  fell  before  the  rising  power  of  the  Persians  (§  72), 

and  her  independent  history  came  to  an  end. 

SOCIETY,   INDUSTRY,    CULTURE 

43.  The  king  was  surrounded  with  everything  that  could 
awe  and  charm  the  masses.  Extraordinary  magnificence  and 
splendor  removed  him  from  the  common  people.  He  gave  au- 
dience, seated  on  a  golden  throne  covered  with  a  purple  canopy 
which  was  supported  by  pillars  glittering  with  precious  stones. 
All  who  came  into  his  presence  prostrated  themselves  in  the 
dust  until  bidden  to  rise.  His  rule  was  absolute ;  but  he  worked 
through  a  large  body  of  trusted  officials,  largely  taken  from  the 
priests. 

44.  Classes  of  Society.  —  Chaldea  had  no  class  like  the  nobles 
of  Egypt.  "Wealth  counted  for  more,  and  birth  for  less,  than  in 
that  country.  There  were  really  only  two  classes,  —  rich  and 
poor,  with  a  mass  of  slaves. 

The  peasants  tilled  the  rich  land  in  misery.  As  in  Egypt 
they  paid  for  their  holdings  with  half  of  the  produce.  In  a 
poor  year,  this  left  them  in  debt  for  seed  and  living.  The 
creditor  could  charge  exorbitant  interest ;  and,  if  not  paid,  he 
could  levy  not  only  upon  the  debtor's  small  goods,  but  also  upon 
wife  or  child,  or  upon  the  person  of  the  farmer  himself,  for 

1  Nebuchadnezzar's  own  account  is  given  in  Davis'  Readings,  Vol.  I,  No.  13. 


§44] 


SOCIETY   AND   CULTURE 


59 


slavery.  As  early  as  the  time  of  Hammurabi  (§§  39,  45),  how- 
ever, the  law  ordered  that  such  slavery  should  last  only  three 
years. 

The  wealth)/  class  included  landowners,  officials,  professional 
men,  money  lenders,  and  merchants.  The  merchant  in  partic- 
ular was  a  prominent  figure.     The  position  of  Chaldea,  at  the 


Colossal  Man-beast  in  Alabaster.  —  From  the  Palace  of  Sargou  (now  in 

the  Louvre). 

head  of  the  Persian  Gulf,  made  its  cities  the  natural  mart  of 
exchange  between  India  and  Syria ;  and  for  centuries,  Babylon 
was  the  great  commercial  center  of  the  ancient  world,  far  more 
truly  than  London  has  been  of  our  modern  world.  Even  the 
extensive  wars  of  Assyria,  cruel  as  they  were,  were  not  merely 
for  love  of  conquest:  they  irere  lan/eli/  cniiimercial  in  pniyose, — 
to  secure  the  trade  of  Syria  and  Phoenicia,  and  to  ruin  in 


60  THE   TIGRIS-EUPHRATES  STATES  [§45 

those   lands   the   trade    centers^   that  were    competing    with 
Nineveh. 

45.  Law  and  Property.  —  In  1902  a.v.,  a  French  explorer 
found  a  valuable  set  of  Babylonian  inscriptions  containing  a 
collection  of  280  laws.  This  "code"  asserts  that  it  was 
enacted  by  Hammurabi  (§  39).  It  is  the  oldest  known  code  of 
laws  in  the  world;  and  it  shows  that  the  men  for  whom  it  was 
made  were  already  far  advanced  in  civilization,  with  many 


Assyrian  Contkact  Tablet  in  Duplicate.  —  Tlie  miter  tablet  is  broken 
and  shows  part  of  the  inner  original,  which  could  always  be  consulted  if 
the  outside  was  thought  to  have  been  tampered  with. 

complex  relations  with  one  another.  It  tries  to  guard  against 
bribery  of  judges  and  witnesses,  against  careless  medical 
practice,  against  ignorant  or  dishonest  building  contractors. 
(About  a  tenth  of  the  code  is  reproduced  in  Davis'  Readings, 
Vol.  I,  No.  20.) 

Other  discoveries  prove  that  rights  of  property  were  carefully 
guarded.  Deeds,  wills,  marriage  settlements,  legal  contracts 
of  all  kinds,  survive  by  tens  of  thousands.  The  numerous 
signatures  of  witnesses,  in  a  variety  of  "  hand  writings,'*  testify 
to  a  widespread  ability  to  write  the  difficult  cuneiform  text. 


1  Damascus,  Jerusalem,  Tyre,  and  others  whose  names  have  less  meaning  to 
us  to-day.  Tyre,  often  besieged  and  reduced  to  a  tributary  state,  was  not 
actually  captured,  owing  to  her  mastery  of  the  sea. 


§47]  SOCIETY   AND   CULTURE  61 

From  the  contracts  we  learn  that  a  woman  could  control  property 
and  carr}^  on  business  independently  of  her  husband. 

46.  Law  and  Men.  —  Criminal  law  is  the  ,term  applied  to 
that  portion  of  a  code  which  relates,  not  to  property,  but  to 
the  ])ersonal  relations  of  nu'ii  to  one  another.     TIere  the  code 


AssYRi.\N  Tablkts,  sliowiiig  the  older  hieroglyphics  aud  the  later  cuneiform 
.equivalents  (apparently  for  the  purpose  of  instruction). 

of   Hammurabi  in  many  provisions  reminds  us  of  the    stern 
Jewish  law  of   an  eye  for  an  eye  and  a  tooth    for  a  tooth. 

"  If  a  man  has  caused  a  man  of  rank  to  lose  an  eye,  one  of  his  own 
eyes  must  be  struck  out.  If  he  has  shattered  the  limb  of  a  man  of  rank, 
let  his  own  limb  be  broken.  If  he  has  knocked  out  the  tooth  of  a  man 
of  rank,  his  tooth  must  be  knocked  out." 

Injuries  to  a  poor  man,  however,  could  be  atoned  for  in 
money. 

"  If  he  has  caused  a  poor  man  to  lose  an  eye,  or  has  shattered  a  limb, 
let  him  pay  one  maneh  of  silver"  (about  §32.00  in  our  values). 

47.  Cuneiform  Writing.  —  The  early  inhabitants  of  Chaldea 
had  a  system  of  hieroglyphs  not  unlike  the  Egyptian.  At  first 
they  })aiuted  these  on  the  papyrus,  which  grew  in  the  Euphrates 
as  well  as  in  the  Nile.     At  a  later  time  they  came  to  press  the 


62  THE   TIGRIS-EUPHRATES  STATES  [§48 

characters  with  a  sharp  metal  instrument  into  clay  tablets 
(which  were  then  baked  to  preserve  them).  This  change  of 
material  led  to  a  change  in  the  written  characters.  The  pic- 
tures shriveled  and  flattened  into  wedge-shaped  symbols,  which 
look  like  scattered  nails  with  curiously  battered  heads.  (This 
writing  is  called  cuneiform,,  from  the  Latin  cuneus,  wedge.) 

The  Semitic  conquerors  adopted  this  writing  and  used  it  in 
such  minute  characters  —  six  lines  to  an  inch  sometimes  — 
that  some  authorities  believe  magnifying  glasses  must  have 
been  used.  This  surmise  was  strengthened  when  the  explorer 
Laj^ard  found  a  lens  among  the  ruins  of  the  Nineveh  library. 

48.  Literature.  —  The  remains  of  Chaldean  literature  are 
abundant.  Each  of  the  numerous  cities  that  studded  the  valley 
of  the  twin  rivers  had  its  library,  sometimes  several  of  them. 
A  library  was  a  collection  of  clay  tablets  or  bricks  covered  with 
cuneiform  writing.  In  Babylon  the  ruins  of  one  library  con- 
tained over  thirty  thousand  tablets,  of  about  the  date  2700  b.c, 
all  neatly  arranged  in  order.  Originally  the  libraries  contained 
papyrus  rolls  also,  but  these  the  climate  has  utterly  destroyed. 

A  tablet,  with  its  condensed  writing,  corresponds  fairly  well 
to  a  chapter  in  one  of  our  books.  Each  tablet  had  its  library 
number  stamped  upon  it,  and  the  collections  were  carefully 
catalogued.  The  kings  prided  themselves  on  keeping  libraries 
open  to  the  public ;  and  Professor  Sayce  is  sure  that  "  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  the  inhabitants  (including  many  women) 
could  read  and  write."  ^ 

The  literary  class  studied  the  "  dead  "  language  of  the  pre- 
Semitic  period,  as  we  study  Latin;  and  the  merchants  were 
obliged  to  know  the  languages  spoken  in  Syria  in  that  day. 
The  libraries  contained  dictionaries  and  grammars  of  these 
languages,  and  also  many  translations  of  foreign  books,  in 
columns  parallel  with  the  originals.  Scribes  were  constantly 
employed  in  copying  and  editing  ancient  texts,  and  they  seem 

1  The  evidence  he  collects  in  his  Social  Life  among  the  Bahiiloninns,  41-43. 
"The  ancient  civilized  East  was  almost  as  full  of  literary  activity  as  is  the 
world  of  to-day,"  adds  the  same  eminent  scholar,  in  an  extreme  statement. 


48] 


SOCIETY   AND  CULTURE 


63 


An  Assyrian  "Book."  —  An  octagon  Assyrian  brick,  now  in  tli«  British 
Museum;  after  Sayce.    This  representation  is  about  one  third  the  real  size. 


64 


THE  TIGRIS-EUPHRATES  STATES 


[§  49 


to  have  been  very  careful  in  their  work :  when  they  could  not 
make  out  a  word  in  an  ancient  copy,  they  tell  us  so  and  leave 
the  space  blank. 

49.  Science.  —  In  Geometry  the  Chaldeans  made  as  much 
advance  as  the  Egyptians  ;  in  Arithmetic  more.  Their  notation 
combined  the  decimal  and  duodecimal  systems.  Sixty  was  a 
favorite  unit,  because  it  is  divisible  by  both  ten  and  twelve : 

it  was  used  as  the  hundred  is 
by  us. 

Scientific  Medicine  was  hin- 
dered by  a  belief  in  charms 
and  magic;  and  even  Astron- 
omy was  studied  largely  as  a 
means  of  fortune-telling  by 
the  stars. ^  Some  of  our  boy- 
ish forms  for  '*  counting  out  " 
—  "  eeny,  meeny,  miny,  moe," 
etc.  —  are  remarkably  like  the 
solemn  forms  of  divination 
used  by  Chaldean  magicians. 
Still,  in  spite  of  such  superstition,  important  progress  was 
made.  As  in  Egypt,  the  level  plains  and  clear  skies  invited 
to  an  early  study  of  the  heavenly  bodies.  The  Chaldeans  fore- 
told eclipses,  made  star  maps,  and  marked  out  on  the  heavens 
the  apparent  yearly  path  of  the  sun.  The  "  signs  of  the  zodiac  " 
in  our  almanacs  come  from  these  early  astronomers.  Every 
great  city  had  its  lofty  observatory  and  its  royal  astronomer  j 
and  in  Babylon,  in  331  B.C.,  Alexander  the  Great  found  an  un- 
broken series  of  observations  running  back  nineteen  hundred 
years.  As  we  get  from  the  Egyptians  our  year  and  months,  so 
from  the  Chaldeans  we  get  the  loeek  (with  its  '*  seventh  da}"  of 

1  For  hundreds  of  years  the  stars  were  believed  to  have  influence  upon 
human  life,  and  a  class  of  fortune  tellers  claimed  to  be  able  to  discover  this 
influence,  and  to  foretell  the  future,  bj'  studying  the  heavens.  This  pretended 
science  is  called  astrolof^y,  to  distinguish  it  from  real  astronomy.  It  lasted  in 
England  as  late  as  the  days  of  Queen  Elizabeth:  and  all  through  the  middle 
ages  in  Europe  an  astrologer  was  called  "  a  Chaldean." 


An  Assyrian  Dog.  ^Relief  on  a  clay 
tablet;  after  Rawlinson. 


§50] 


SOCIETY  AND  CULTURE 


65 


rest  for  the  soul ")  and  the  division  of  the  day  into  hours,  with 
the  subdivision  into  minv.tes.  Their  notation,  by  12  and  60,  we 
still  keep  on  the  face  of  every  clock.  The  sundial  and  the  icater 
dock  were  Assyrian  inventions  to  measure  time. 


Fkag.mknt  ov  AssviuAN  "  DKi.utiK-TAiiLET,''  witli  pari  of  tlie  stury 
of  a  deluge,     /y^^    %C^/. 

50.  Chaldean  Legends.  —  Besides  this  scientific  and  scholarly 
literature,  the  Babylonians  had  many  stories,  including  an 
ancient  collection  of  legends  which  claimed  to  carry  their  his- 
tory back  seven  hundred  thousand  years,  to  the  creation  of 


66 


THE  TIGRIS-EUPHRATES  STATES 


(§51 


the  world.  Their  story  of  the  creation  resembled,  in  many- 
features,  the  later  Hebrew  Genesis ;  and  one  of  their  legends 
concerned  a  "deluge,"  from  which  only  one  man  —  favorite  of 
the  gods  —  was  saved  in  an  ark,  with  his  family  and  with  one 
pair  of  every  sort  of  beasts.  These  stories,  however,  have  an 
exaggerated  style,  and  lack  the  noble  simplicity  of  the  Bible 
narrative. 

51.  Industries  and  their  Arts.  —  More  than  the  other  ancient 
peoples,  the  men  of  the  Euphrates  made  practical  use  of  their 
science.  They  understood  the  lever  and  jmlley,  and  used  the 
arch  in  making  vaulted  drains  and  aqueducts.     They  invented 

the  2)otter\s  icheel  and 
an  excellent  system  of 
iceights  and  measures. 
Their  measures  were 
based  on  the  length  of 
the  finger,  breadth  of 
the  hand,  and  length 
of  the  arm  ;  and,  with 
the  system  of  weights, 
they  have  come  down 
to  us  through  the 
Greeks.  The  sym- 
bols in  the  "Apothe- 
caries' Table"  in  our  arithmetics  are  Babylonian  in  origin. 
Books  upon  agriculture  passed  on  the  Babylonian  knowledge 
of  that  subject  to  the  Greeks  and  Arabs.  They  had  surpass- 
ing skill  in  cutting  gems,  enameling,  inlaying.  Every  well-to-do 
person  i-'ad  his  seal  with  which  to  sign  letters  and  legal  papers. 
The  cheaper  sort  were  of  baked  clay,  but  the  richer  men  used 
engraved  precious  stones,  in  the  form  of  cylinders,  arranged  to 
revolve  on  an  axis  of  metal.  Thousands  of  these  have  been 
found.  Some  of  them,  made  of  jasper  or  chalcedony  or  onyx, 
are  works  of  art  which  it  would  be  hard  to  surpass  to-day. 
Assyrian  looms,  too,  produced  the  finest  of  muslins  and  of  fleecy 
WQolens^  to  which  the  dyer  gave  the  most  brilliant  colors.     The 


Assyrian  Cylinder  Seals. 


§  52] 


SOCIETY  AND   CULTURE 


67 


rich  wore  long  robes  of  those  cloths,  decorated  with  embroider- 
ies. Tapestries  and  carpets,  also,  wonderfully  colored,  were 
^oven,  for  walls  and  floors  and  beds.  In  many  such  industries, 
little  advance  has  been  made  since,  so  far  as  the  products  are 
concerned. 

52.  Architecture  and  Sculpture.  —  The  Euphrates  valley  had 
no  stone  and  little  wood.  Brick  making,  therefore,  was,  next 
to  agriculture,  the  most  important  industry.     Ordinary  houses 


Impkessiox  from  a  King's  Cylinder  Skal.  —  The  fiu;ure  in  the  air  repre- 
sents the  god  who  protects  tlie  king  in  his  perils. 

were  built  of  cheap  sun-dried  bricks.  The  same  material  was 
used  for  all  but  the  outer  courses  of  the  walls  of  the  palaces 
and  temples  ^ ;  but  for  these  outside  faces,  a  kiln-baked  brick 
was  used,  much  like  our  own.  With  only  these  imperfect 
materials,  the  Babylonians  constructed  marvelous  tower-temples 
and  elevated  gardens,  in  imitation  of  mountain  scenery.  The 
"Hanging  Gardens,"  built  by  Nebuchadnezzar  to  please  his 
wife  (from  the  Median  mountains),  rose,  one  terrace  upon  an- 
other, to  a  height  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet.  They  were 
counted  by  the   Greeks  among   the    "  seven  wonders    of   the 


'The  extensive  use  of  sun-dried  hrick  in  Chaldean  cities  explains  their  com- 
plete decay.  In  the  course  of  ages,  after  being  abandoned,  they  sank  into 
shapeless  mounds,  indistinguishable  from  the  surrounding  plain. 


68  THE   TIGRIS-EUPHRATES   STATES  [§52 

world."  The  Babylonian  jKilaces  were  usually  one  story  only 
in  height,  resting  upon  a  raised  platform  of  earth.  But  the 
temples  rose  stage  upon  stage,  as  the  drawing  opposite  shows, 
with  a  different  color  for  each  story. 

Assyria  abounded  in  excellent  stone.  Still  for  centuries  her 
builders  slavishly  used  brick,  like  the  people  from  whom  they 
borrowed  their  art.  Finally,  however,  they  came  to  make  use 
of  the  better  material  about  them  for  sculjjture  and  for  at 
least  the  facings  of  their  public  buildings.     Thus  in  architec- 


k/ 

"%%. 

1 

^^ 

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^^zr^^^s-5<^^^^^^^^^^ 

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fw,    ^ 

s^ 

-,  ^^ 

3^ -: 

;^,-,^   4-W\'-%^-'     -jia 

^i-^^'-'iy^ — 

A  Lion  Hunt.  —  Assyrian  relief;   from  Rawliiison. 

ture  and -sculpture,  though  in  no  other  art,  Assyria,  land  of 
stone,  excelled  Babylonia,  land  of  brick.  In  the  royal  palaces, 
especially,  the  almost  unlimited  power  of  the  monarchs,  and 
their  Oriental  passion  for  splendor  and  color,  produced  a  sump- 
tuous magnificence  which  the  more  self-restrained  modern  world 
never  equals. 

The  following;  description  of  a  palace  of  ancient  Nineveh  is  taken  from 
Dr.  J.  K.  Hosmer's  The  Jcics.     The  passage  is  partly  condensed. 

"  Upon  a  huge,  wide-spreading,  artificial  hill,  faced  with  masonry,  for 
a  platform,  rose  cliff-like  fortress  walls  a  hundred  feet  more,  wide  enough 
for  three  chariots  abreast  and  with  frequent  towers  shooting  up  to  a  still 
loftier  height.  Sculptured  portals,  by  which  stood  silent  guardians, 
colossal  figures  in  white  alabaster,  the  forms  of  men  and  beasts,  winged 
and  of  majestic  mien,  admitted  to  the  magnificence  within.  .  .  .  Upward, 
tier  above  tier,  into  the  blue  heavens,  ran  lines  of  colonnades,  pillars  of 
costly  cedar,  cornices  glittering  with  gold,  capitals  blazing  with  vermilion, 
and,  between  them,  voluminous  curtains  of  silk,  purple,  and  scarlet,  inter- 


§o3] 


RELIGION  AND  MORALS 


69 


woven  with  threads  of  gold.  ...  In  the  interior,  stretching  for  miles, 
literally  for  miles,  the  builder  of  the  palace  ranged  the  illustrated  record 
of  his  exploits.  .  .  .  The  mind  grows  dizzy  with  the  thought  of  the 
splendor  —  the  processions  of  satraps  and  eunuchs  and  tributary  kings, 
winding  up  the  stairs,  and  passing  in  a  radiant  stream  through  the  halls 
—  the  gold  and  embroidery,  the  ivory  and  the  sumptuous  furniture,  the 
pearls  and  the  hangings." 

A  description  with  more  precise  details  and  less  "color"'  is  given  in 
Davis'  Headings,  Vol.  I,  No.  19.     See  also  No.  18,  "An  Assyrian  City.'' 


12  ft.    '  »l  ft. 


Skction  of  the  Templk  of  the  Seven  Spheres,  according  to  a 
"  restoration."  — From  Kawlinson. 

II  is  a  sacred  shrine.    The  seven  sta},'es  below  it  were  colored  In  order  from  the  tiottoui  as 
follows  :  black,  oranf,'e,  red,  f,'olden,  yellow,  blue,  silver. 

53.  Religion  and  Morals.  —  Babylonians  and  Assyrians  botli 
worshiped  ancestors.  Mingled  with  this  religion  was  a  nature 
worship,  with  numerous  gods  and  demigods.  Ancestor  worship 
is  usually  accompanied  by  a  belief  in  witchcraft  and  in  un- 
friendly ghosts  and  demons.  In  Chaldea  these  superstitions 
appeared  in  an  exaggerated  form.  Indeed,  the  pictures  in  early 
Christian  times,  representing  the  devil  with  horns,  hoofs,  and 
tail,  came  from  the  Babylonians,  through  the  Jewish  Talmud.' 


1  A  Hebrew  book  containing  much  learning  and  many  legends. 


70  THE   TIGRIS-EUPHRATES  STATES  (§53 

Nature  worship,  in  its  lower  stages,  is  often  accompanied  by 
debasing  rites,  in  which  drunkenness  and  sensuality  appear  as 
acts  of  worship.  In  Babylonia,  revolting  features  of  this  kind 
remained  throughout  her  history.  It  was  this  character  that 
called  down  upon  Babylon  the  stern  reproaches  of  the  Hebrew 
prophets,  —  through  whom  her  name  has  become  a  symbol  for 
dissoluteness. 

At  the  same  time,  as  with  the  Egyptian  higher  classes,  some 
hymns  and  prayers  rise  to  a  pure  worship  of  one  god ;  and  the 
Assyrian  felt  strongly  that  sense  of  sin  which  the  Egyptian 
lacked  and  which  has  played  so  great  a  part  iu  the  Jewish  and 
Christian  religions.     (See  extract  below.) 

The  idea  of  a  future  life  was  of  a  primitive  sort.  Each 
tomb  had  an  altar  at  the  head  for  offerings  of  food.  With  a 
man  were  buried  his  arms;  with  a  girl,  her  scent  bottles, 
combs,  ornaments,  and  cosmetics.  Most  Chaldeans,  even  of 
the  intelligent  classes,  never  rose  to  a  higher  idea  of  a  future 
life  than  these  customs  indicate.  It  was  to  be,  in  their  thought, 
a  disagreeable,  gloomy,  half-alive  state,  in  or  near  the  tomb. 
At  the  same  time,  for  a  few  thinkers  there  did  arise  another 
belief :  some  souls  were  to  suffer  in  a  hell  of  tortures ;  others, 
who  knew  how  to  secure  the  divine  favor,  were  to  dwell  amid 
varied  pleasures  in  distant  Isles  of  the  Blest. 

The  following  passages  show  some  of  the  higher  religious 
thought.     (See  also  Davis'  Readings,  Vol.  I,  Nos.  22  and  24.) 

From  a  Chaldean  hymn,  composed  in  the  city  of  Ur,  before 
the  time  of  Abraham. 

"Father,    long  suffering   and  full  of  forgiveness,  whose  hand  uphilds 

the  life  of  all  mankind  !  .  .  . 
First-born,  omnipotent,  whose  heart  is  immensity,  and  there  is  none 

who  may  fathom  it !  .  .   . 
In  heaven,  who  is  supreme  ?     Thou  alone,  thou  art.  supreme  ! 
On  earth,  wlio  is  supreme  ?     Thou  alone,  thou  art  supreme  ! 
As  for  thee,  thy  will  is  made  known  du  heaven,  and  the  angels  bow 

their  faces. 
As  for  thee,  thy  will  is  made  known  upon  earth,  and  the  spirits  below 

kiss  the  ground." 


§53]  RELIGION  AND  MORALS  71 

From  an  Assyrian  prayer  for  remission  of  sins. 

"  0  my  god,  my  sins  are  many  !  .  .  .  O  my  goddess,  .  .  .  great  are 
my  misdeeds  1  I  have  committed  faults  and  I  knew  them  not.  I  have 
fed  upon  misdeeds  and  I  knev?  them  not.  ...  I  weep  and  no  one  comes 
to  me  ;  I  cry  aloud  and  no  one  hears  me  ;  ...  I  sink  under  affliction.  I 
turn  to  my  merciful  god  and  I  groan,  Lord,  reject  not  thy  servant,  —  and 
if  he  is  hurled  into  the  roaring  waters,  stretch  to  him  thy  hand  !  The  sins 
I  have  committed,  have  mercy  upon  them  !  my  faults,  tear  them  to  pieces 
like  a  garment !  " 

A  prayer  of  Nebuchadnezzar. 

"  Thou  hast  created  me.  .  .  .  Set  thou  the  fear  of  thy  divine  power  in 
my  heart.  Give  me  what  seemest  good  unto  thee,  since  thou  maintainest 
my  life." 


*i 


CHAPTER   IV 

THE   MIDDLE   STATES 

The  two  Syrian  peoples  that  demand  notice  in  a  book  of  this 
kind  are  the  Phoenicians  and  the  Hebrews.  Each  of  these  was 
an  important  factor  in  the  development  of  civilization. 

I.     THE   PHOENICIANS 

54.  Early  Sailors.  —  Before  1000  b.c.  the  Phoenicians  had  be- 
come the  traders  of  the  ivorld.  Their  vessels  carried  most  of 
the  commerce  of  Babylonia  and  Egypt.  Phoenician  sailors 
manned  the  ship  that  Neco  sent  to  circumnavigate  Africa. 
Indeed  the  fame  of  these  people  as  sailors  so  eclipsed  that  of 
earlier  peoples  that  it  has  been  customary  to  speak  of  them  as 
"  the  first  men  who  went  down  to  the  sea  in  ships." 

The  Phoenicians  dwelt  on  a  little  strip  of  broken  coast,  shut 
off  from  the  rest  of  the  continent  by  the  Lebanon  Mountains 
(map,  page  77).  The  many  harbors  of  their  coast  invited  them 
seaward,  and  the  "  cedar  of  Lebanon  "  furnished  the  best  of 
masts  and  ship  timber.  When  history  first  reveals  the  Med- 
iterranean, about  1600  B.C.,  it  is  dotted  with  the  adventurous 
sails  of  the  Phoeniciaji  navigators,  and  for  centuries  more  they 
are  the  only  real  sailor  folk.  Half  traders,  half  pirates,  their 
crews  crept  from  island  to  island,  to  barter  with  the  natives 
or  to  sweep  them  off  for  slaves,  as  chance  might  best  offer. 

Farther  and  farther  their  merchants  daringly  sought  wealth 
on  the  sea,  until  they  passed  even  the  Pillars  of  Hercules,^  into 

1  The  Greeks  gave  this  name  to  two  lofty,  rocky  hills,  one  on  each  side  of 
the  Strait  of  Gibraltar.  They  were  generally  believed  by  the  ancients  to  be 
the  limit  of  even  the  most  daring  voyage.  Beyond  them  lay  inconceivable 
dangers.     (See  map  after  page  132.) 

72 


§56]  A  SAILOR-FOLK  73 

the  open  Atlantic.  And  at  last  we  see  them  exchanging  the 
precious  tin  of  Britain,  the  yellow  amber  of  the  Baltic,  and  the 
slaves  and  ivory  of  West  Africa,  for  the  spices,  gold,  scented 
wood,  and  precious  stones  of  India. 

55.  The  chief  Phoenician  cities  were  Tyre  and  Sidon.  For 
many  centuries,  until  the  attacks  by  Assyria  in  the  eighth 
century  b.c,  these  cities  were  among  the  most  splendid  and 
wealthy  in  the  world.  Ezekiel  (xxvi,  xxvii)  describes  the 
grandeur  of  Tyre  in  noble  poetry  that  teaches  us  much  regard- 
ing Phoenician  trade  and  life  :  — 

"  O  thou  that  dwellest  at  the  entry  of  the  sea,  which  art  the  merchant 
of  the  peoples  unto  many  isles,  .  .  .  thou,  0  Tyre,  hast  said,  I  am  per- 
fect in  beauty.  Thy  borders  are  in  the  heart  of  the  seas ;  tliy  builders 
have  perfected  thy  beauty.  They  have  made  all  tliy  planks  of  fir  trees. 
.  .  .  They  have  taken  cedars  from  Lebanon  to  be  masts  for  thee  ;  they 
have  made  thy  benches  of  ivory  inlaid  in  boxwood  from  the  isles  of  Kit- 
tim  [Kition  in  Cyprus].  Of  fine  linen  with  broidered  work  from  Egypt 
was  thy  sail,  .  .  .  blue  and  purple  from  the  isles  of  Elishah  [North 
Africa]  was  thy  awning.  ...  All  the  ships  of  the  sea  were  in  thee 
to  exchange  thy  merchandise.  .  .  .  Tarshish  [Tartessus,  southwestern 
Spain]  was  thy  merchant  by  reason  of  the  multitude  of  all  kinds  of  riches. 
With  silver,  iron,  tin,  and  lead  they  traded  for  thy  wares.  Javan  [Greek 
Ionia],  Tubal,  and  Mesheck  [the  lands  of  the  Black  and  Caspian  seas], 
they  were  thy  traffickers.  .  .  .  They  of  the  house  of  Togarmah  [Arme- 
nia] traded  for  thy  wares  with  horses  and  mules.  .  .  .  Many  isles  were 
the  mart  of  thy  hands.  They  brought  thee  bones  of  ivory  and  of  ebony." 
Ezekiel  names  also,  among  the  articles  of  exchange,  emeralds,  coral, 
rubies,  wheat,  honey,  oil,  balm,  wine,  wool,  yarn,  spices,  lambs,  and  goats. 

56.  Place  in  History.  —  Tlie  Phoenicians  ivere  the  Jirst  colo- 
nizers on  the  se<i,  — the  forerunners  of  the  Greeks  and  the  Eug- 
lish.  They  fringed  the  larger  islands  and  the  shores  of  the 
Mediterranean  with  trading  stations,  which  became  centers  of 
civilization.  Carthage,  Utica,  Gades  (Cadiz,  on  the  Atlantic), 
were  among  their  colonies  (uiap  after  ])age  1.32).  They  worked 
tin  mines  in  Colchis,  in  Spain,  and  finally  in  Britain,  and  so 
made  possible  the  manufacture  of  bronze  on  a  larger  scale  than 
before,  to  replace  stone  implements.  Probably  they  first  intro- 
duced bronze  into  many  parts  of  Europe. 


74 


THE  PHOENICIANS 


[§  57 


Phoenician  articles  are  found  in  great  abundance  in  the  an- 
cient tombs  of  the  Greek  and  Italian  peninsulas  —  the  earliest 
European  homes  of  civilization.  In  a  selfish  but  effective  way, 
the  Phoenicians  became  the  "  missionaries " 
to  Europe  of  the  culture  that  Asia  and  Africa 
had  developed.  It  was  their  function,  not  to 
create  civilization,  hut  to  spread  it.  Especially 
did  they  teach  the  Greeks,  who  were  to  teach 
the  rest  of  Europe. 

The  chief  export  of  the  Phoenicians,  some 
one  has  said,  was  the  alphabet.  They  were 
only  one  of  several  early  peoples  (as  we  have 
recently  discovered)  to  develop  a  true  alpha- 
bet ;  but  it  is  theirs  which  has  come  down  to 
us  through  the  Greeks  and  Romans.  When 
the  Egyptians  conquered  Syria  about  1500 
B.C.  (§  30),  the  Phoenicians  were  using  the 
cuneiform  script  of  Babylon,  with  its  hundreds 
of  difficult  characters.  It 
was  natural  that,  for  the 
needs  of  their  commerce, 
they  should  seek  a  simpler 
means  of  communication : 
and  about  1100  B.C.,  after  a 
gap  of  some  centuries  in  our 
knowledge  of  their  writing, 
we  find  them  with  a  true  alphabet  of  twenty- 
two  letters.  They  seem  to  have  taken  these 
from  the  symbols  for  sounds  among  the  Egyp- 
tian hieroglyphs  (§  22),  though  some  scholars 
think  they  got  them  from  Crete  (§  96). 

57.  Society.  —  The  Phoenicians  in  them- 
selves do  not  interest  us  particularly.  They  spoke  a  Semitic 
tongue  (§  36)  ;  but  their  religion  was  revolting,  especially  for 
the  cruel  sacrifice  of  the  firstborn  to  Baal,  the  sun  god,  and  for 
the  licentious  worship  of  Astarte,  the  moon  goddess. 


c 

^ 

'o 

2 

c 

'c 

O 

8 

JZ 

-o 

E 
o 

0- 

O 

DC 

^ 

A 

A 

^ 

^ 

B 

> 

e 

<c 

A 

t>D 

D 

^ 

>t 

E 

^h 

EH 

H 

1\ 

K 

K 

I 

U 

l/L 

W\ 

tA 

M 

-A 

N 

N 

o 

0 

0 

9 

9 

9Q 

q 

Pl^ 

R 

vV 

^2 

^S 

T 

T 

T 

Parts  of 
Alphabet. 


^ 

Egyptian 
Hieroglyph. 

Z- 

Kjryptian 
;>cVipt. 

u 

Phoenician. 

A 

Ancient 
Greek. 

A 

Ancient  Latin. 

A 

Later  Latin. 

Growth  of  the 

Letter  A. 

§59]  THE   HEBREW  STORY  75 

Several  cities  were  grouped  loosely  about  Sidon  and  Tyre; 
but  they  never  formed  a  united  state.  Satisfied  with  the  profits 
of  trade,  they  submitted  easily,  as  a  rule,  to  any  powerful 
neighbor  —  Assyria  or  Egypt.  As  tributaries,  they  sent  work- 
men to  construct  the  magnificent  buildings  of  Assyria  or  to 
develop  the  mines  of  Egypt,  and  they  furnished  the  fleets  of 
either  empire  in  turn. 

About  730  B.C.  Tyre  was  reduced  in  power,  by  attacks  from 
Assyria ;  but  it  remained  a  great  mercantile  center  until  its 
capture  by  Alexander  the  Great  {332  b.c).  From  this  down- 
fall the  city  never  fully  recovered,  and  fishermen  now  spread 
their  nets  to  dry  in  the  sun  on  the  bare  rock  where  once  its 
proud  towers  rose. 

II.     THE  S  HEBREWS 
Their  Story 

58.  The  Patriarchs.  —  As  the  Phoenicians  were  men  of  the 
sea,  so  the  early  Hebrews  were  men  of  the  desert.  They  ap- 
pear first  as  ivandering  shepherds  on  the  edge  of  the  Arabian 
sands.  Abraham,  the  founder  of  the  race,  emigrated  from  **  Ur 
of  the  Chaldees,"  about  2000  b.c.  He  and  his  descendants, 
Isaac  and  Jacob,  lived  and  ruled  as  patriarchal  chiefs,  much 
as  Arab  sheiks  do  in  the  same  regions  to-day.  The  Book  of 
Genesis  tells  their  story  with  a  simple  charm  that  makes  it  the 
best-known  history  in  the  world. 

59.  The  Egyptian  Captivity.  —  Finally.  "  the  famine  was  sore 
iu  the  land."  This  famine,  seems  to  have  caused  one  of  those 
periodic  invasions  of  Babylonia  by  tribes  of  the  desert,  already 
mentioned.  Jacob  and  his  sons,  however,  with  their  tribesmen 
and  flocks,  sought  refuge  in  the  other  direction,  crossing  into 
Egypt.  Here  they  found  Joseph,  one  of  their  brethren,  al- 
ready high  in  royal  favor.  The  rulers  of  Egypt  at  this  time, 
too,  were  the  Hyksos,  themselves  originally  Arabian  shepherds. 
Accordingly,  the  Hebrews  were  welcomed  cordially,  and  allowed 
to  settle  in  the  fertile  pasturage  of  Goshen,  an  Egyptian  dis- 


76  THE   HEBREWS  [§60 

trict  near  the  Eed  Sea,  where  flitting  Arab  tribes  have  always 
been  wont  to  encamp.  Thus  the  life  of  the  Hebrews  was  at 
first  not  much  changed  by  their  change  of  home.  But  soon  the 
native  Egyptian  rule  was  restored  by  the  Theban  pharaohs, 
"who  knew  not  Joseph."  These  powerful  princes  of  the 
New  Empire  (§  30)  reduced  the  Hebrews  to  slavery  and 
employed  them  on  their  great  public  works,  and  "  made 
their  lives  bitter  with  hard  bondage  in  mortar  and  in  brick  and 
in  all  manner  of  service  in  the  field."  Three  centuries  later, 
while  the  Egyptian  government  was  in  a  period  of  weakness 
and  disorder  (§  31),  the  oppressed  people  escaped  to  the  Ara- 
bian desert  again. 

60.  Settlement  in  Palestine.  —  In  their  flight  from  Egypt,  the 
Hebrews  were  guided  by  Moses.  Though  a  Hebrew,  Moses  had 
been  brought  up  as  a  noble,  through  the  favor  of  an  Egyptian 
princess,  and  was  "  learned  in  all  the  wisdom  of  the  Egyptians." 
But  "  it  came  to  pass  in  those  days  when  Moses  was  grown, 
that  he  went  out  unto  his  brethren,  and  looked  on  their 
btirdens."  With  splendid  courage,  he  gave  up  his  pleasant 
life  to  share  their  hard  condition ;  and  he  became  their  leader 
and  lawgiver. 

For  a  lifetime,  the  fugitives  wandered  to  and  fro  in  the  desert, 
after  their  ancient  manner;  but  they  were  now  a  numerous 
people  and  had  become  accustomed  to  fixed  abodes.  About 
1250  B.C.,  under  Joshua,  to  whom  Moses  had  turned  over  the 
leadership,  they  began  to  conquer  the  mountain  valleys  of 
Palestine  for  their  home.  Then  followed  two  centuries  of 
bloody  warfare  with  their  neighbors,  some  of  whom  had  long 
before  taken  on  the  civilization  of  Babylonia.  The  most 
powerful  of  their  enemies  were  the  Philistines,  who  held  the 
coast  between  the  Hebrew  mountain  valleys  and  the  sea.  It 
was  from  these  people,  indeed,  that  Palestine  took  its  name. 

61.  The  Judges.  —  During  this  period  the  Hebrews  remained 
a  loose  alliance  of  twelve  shepherd  tribes.  The  only  central 
authority  was  exercised  by  a  series  of  popular  heroes,  like 
Samson,   Jephthah,    Gideon,    and   Samuel,  known   as   Judges. 


§63] 


OUTLINE  OF  THEIR  STORY 


77 


THE  SYRIAN 
DISTRICT 


Much  of  the  time  there  was  great  and  ruinous  disorder,  and 
bands  of  robbers  drove  travelers  from  the  highways.  Finally, 
the  Philistines  for  a  time  overran  the  land  at  will. 

62.  Kings  and 
Prophets.  —  Such 
conditions  made 
the  Hebrews  feel 
the  necessity  of  a 
stronger  govern- 
ment. S  a  u  I,  a 
mighty  warrior, 
roused  them  against 
the  Philistine  spoil- 
ers of  the  laud,  and 
led  them  to  victory. 
In  return  they  made 
him  their  first  king. 
Alongside  this  mon- 
arch and  his  succes- 
sors, however,  there 
stood  religious 
teachers  with  great 
authority.  They 
were  no  longer  lead- 
ers in  war,  like  the 
Judges.  Indeed 
these  "prophets" 
had  no  official  posi- 
tion; but  they  did 
not  hesitate  to  re- 
buke or  oppose  a 
sovereign. 

63.  David  and  Solomon,  the  second  and  third  kings  (105ri-975), 
completely  subdiuMl  the  I'liilistines  and  various  other  neighbor- 
ing peoples,  and  raised  the  Hebrew  state  to  the  position  of  a 
considerable  empire.     Under  Solomon,  it  included  all  western 


~ -^  Jj^-ltca  Sea 


78  THE  HEBREWS  [§64 

Syria  except  Phoenicia  and  a  small  district  next  Egypt.  The 
way  for  such  a  Syrian  state  had  just  been  cleared.  The  Hit- 
tites  (§  31)  had  ruined  the  Egyptian  power  in  Syria,  and,  in 
turn,  had  been  shattered  by  Tiglath-Pileser ;  and  then  the 
Assyrian  dominion  had  been  checked  by  new  invasions  from 
the  Arabian  desert. 

David  will  be  remembered  longest,  not  for  his  deeds  as  a 
daring  warrior  nor  even  as  a  wise  organizer  of  an  empire,  but 
rather  as  "the  sweet  singer  of  Israel."  He  was  originally 
a  shepherd  boy,  who  attracted  Saul's  favor  by  his  beauty  and 
his  skill  upon  the  harp ;  and,  in  the  most  troublous  days  of  his 
kingship,  he  sought  rest  and  comfort  in  composing  songs  and 
poems,  which  are  now  included  in  the  sacred  Book  of  Psalms. 
So  great  was  his  repute  in  this  respe(^t,  that  the  later  Hebrews 
attributed  to  him  many  other  hymns  of  which  the  true  authors 
were  unknown. 

David  had  planned  a  noble  temple  at  Jerusalem  for  the 
worship  of  Jehovah  ;  but  the  work  was  actually  carried  out  by 
his  son,  Solomon.  The  Hebrews  had  little  ability  in  archi- 
tecture ;  but  King  Hiram  of  Tyre  sent  skilled  Phoenician 
builders  for  the  work,  and  it  was  completed  with  great 
magnificence.  Through  the  rest  of  their  history  it  remained 
the  chief  pride  and  center  of  interest  for  the  Hebrew  people. 

Until  this  period,  Hebrew  life  had  been  plain  and  simple. 
They  were  still  merely  herdsmen  and  tillers  of  the  soil.  Xot 
till  after  the  Babylonian  captivity,  later,  did  they  engage  in 
commerce.  But  Solomon  built  rich  palaces  with  his  foreign 
workmen,  and  copied  within  them  all  the  magnificence  and 
luxury  of  an  Oriental  court.  His  reign  closed  the  brief  age  of 
political  greafitess  for  the  Hebrews. 

64.  Division  and  Decline. — The  twelve  tribes  had  not  come 
to  feel  themselves  really  one  nation.  The}'  had  been  divided 
into  two  groups  in  earlier  times :  ten  tribes  in  one  group ; 
two  in  the  other.  David  had  belonged  to  the  smaller  group, 
and  his  early  kingship  had  extended  over  only  the  two  tribes. 
Jealousies  against  the   rule   of  his  house  had  smoldered  all 


§GG]  OUTLINE   OF  THEIR  STORY  79 

along  among  the  ten  tribes.  Now  came  a  final  separation. 
Solomon's  taxes  had  sorely  burdened  the  people.  On  his  death, 
the  ten  tribes  sent  a  petition  to  liis  sou  for  relief.  The  young 
king  (Rehoboam)  replied  with  haughty  insult :  — 

"  Whereas  my  father  did  lade  you  with  a  heavy  yoke,  I  will  add  to 
your  yoke  :  my  father  hath  chastised  you  with  whips,  but  I  will  chastise 
you  with  scorpions." 

Then  arose  at  once  a  stern  old  war  cry  of  the  tribes :  — 

"The  people  answered  the  king,  saying,  'What  portion  have  we  in 
David'.'  .  .  .      To  your  tents,  0  Israel  f ''"' 

Thus  the  ten  tribes  set  up  for  themselves  as  the  Kingdom  of 
Israel,  with  a  capital  at  Samaria.  Only  the  tribes  of  Benjamin 
and  Judah  remained  faithful  to  the  house  of  David.  These 
took  the  name  of  the  Kingdom  of  Judah,  Avith  the  old  capital, 
Jerusalem. 

65.  The  Captivities. — The  Kingdom  of  Israel  lasted  250 
years,  until  Sargon  carried  the  ten  tribes  into  that  Assyrian 
captivity  in  which  they  are  ''lost''  to  history  (§  40).  Judah 
lasted  four  centuries  after  the  separation,  most  of  the  time 
tributary  to  Assyria  or  to  l^abylon.  Finally,  in  punishment 
for  rebellion,  Nebuchadnezzar  carried  away  the  people  into 
the  Babylonian  captivity  (§  42). 

66.  Priestly  Rule. — This  event  closed  the  separate  politi- 
cal history  of  the  Jews.  The  more  zealous  of  them  were  al- 
lowed to  return  to  Judea  when  the  Persians  conquered  Babylon 
(§§  42,  72).  Thereafter  in  internal  matters  Judea  was  ruled  by 
its  priesthood.  The  most  valuable  part  of  its  religous  life  was 
still  to  come  ;  but  from  that  time,  politically,  it  formed  only  a 
subject  province  of  the  Persian,  Greek,  or  Roman  Empire 
(except  for  a  few  glorious  years  under  the  Maccabees ;  §  467). 
A  series  of  stubborn  rebellions  against  Rome  finally  brought  a 
terrible  punishment,  in  the  year  70  a.d.  After  a  notable  siege, 
Jerusalem  was  sacked,  and  the  remnant  of  inhabitants  were 
sold  into  slavery.  They  remain  dispersed  among  all  lands  to 
this  day. 


80 


THESHEBREWS 


[§07 


Their  Mission 

"  If  the  Greek  was  to  enliyhten  the  world,  if  the  Boman  vms  to  rule  the 
icorld,  if  the  Tenton  was  to  be  the  common  disciple  and  emissary  of  both, 
it  was  from  the  Hebrew  that  all  were  to  learn  the  things  that  belong  to 
another  world.''''  —  Freeman,  Chief  Periods,  66. 

67.  The  Faith  in  One  God.  —  The  Hebrews  added  nothing  to 
material  civilization  :  they  did  not  profit  the   world  by  biiild- 


Jerusai.km  To-day,  fium  the  soiubwest,  with  the  roiid  to  Bethlehem. 


ing  roads,  perfecting  trades,  or  inventing  new  processes  in  in- 
dustry. Nor  did  they  contribute  directly  to  any  art.  Their 
work  was  higher.  Their  religious  literature  was  the  noblest 
the  world  had  seen,  and  has  passed  into  all  the  literatures  of  the 
civilized  world ;  but  even  this  is  valuable  not  so  much  for  its 
literary  merit  as  for  its  moral  teachings.  The  true  history  of 
the  Uehreios  is  the  record  of  their  sjnritual  growth.  Their  religion 
was  infinitely  purer  and  truer  than  any  other  of  the  ancient 
world ;  and  out  of  it  was  to  grow  the  religion  of  Christianity. 


88]  MISSION  IN  HISTORY  81 

Among  other  ancient  nations,  individuals  had  risen  at  times 
to  noble  religious  thought;  but  the  Hebrews  first  as  a  ichole 
people  felt  strenuously  the  obligation  of  the  moral  law,  and 
first  attained  to  a  pure  worship  of  one  God. 

68.  Growth  of  the  Faith.  —  At  first  this  lofty  faith  belonged 
to  only  a  few  —  to  the  patriarchs  and  later  to  the  prophets,  with 
a  small  following  of  the  more  spiritually  minded  of  the  nation. 
For  a  thousand  years  the  common  people,  and  even  some  of 
the  kings,  were  constantly  tending  to  fall  away  into  the  super- 
stitions of  their  Syrian  neighbors.  But  it  is  the  supreme  merit 
of  the  Hebrews  that  a  remnant  always  clung  to  the  higher 
religion,  until  it  became  the  universal  faith  of  a  whole  people. 

No  doubt  the  Babylonian  captivity  helped  make  this  faith 
universal.  The  few  devoted  men  and  women  who  found  their 
way  back  to  Judea  through  so  many  hardships  were  indeed  a 
"chosen"  and  sifted  people.  Among  them  there  was  no  more 
tendency  to  idolatry.  The  faith  of  the  patriarchs  and  proph- 
ets became  the  soul  of  a  nation,  —  as  a  later  and  higher  devel- 
opment of  that  faith  was  to  become  the  soul  of  our  whole 
civilization. 

This,  then,  was  the  mission  of  the  Hebrews.  As  Renan  well 
says  {History  of  Israel,  I,  22)  :  "  Wliat  Greece  icas  to  be  as  re- 
gards intellectual  culture,  and  Rome  as  regards  2^f>litics,  these 
nomad  Semites  were  as  regards  religion."  The  Jews,  therefore, 
are  sometimes  counted  a  fourth  influence,  with  Greeks,  Ro- 
mans, and  Teutons,  in  making  our  world  (§  4).  But,  after  all, 
Judaism  was  an  exclusive  religion.  It  did  not  make  converts 
among  other  people ;  and  did  not  directly  affect  the  great  world 
outside  Judea.  The  rise  and  spread  of  Christianity  belong,  not 
solely  to  Jewish  influence,  but  rather  to  the  history  of  the  later 
Roman  world. 

Exercise.  —  1.  Locate  on  the  map  four  centers  of  civilization  for 
1500  B.C.  ;  and  note  when  they  would  naturally  come  into  touch  with  one 
another.  (One  more  center  for  this  same  age  —  Crete  —  is  yet  to  be 
treated,  §§  9.3-07.)  2.  What  new  center  of  civilization  appeared  between 
1500  and  1000  b.c.  ? 


37 


CHAPTER   V 

THE  PERSIAN   EMPIRE 

69.  The  Map  grows.  —  So  far,  we  have  had  to  do  only  with 
the  first  homes  of  civilization  —  the  Nile  and  Euphrates  valleys 
—  and  with  the  middle  land,  Syria.  Assyria  did  reach  out 
somewhat,  east  and  west  (see  map,  page  55) ;  but  her  new 
regions  had  no  special  importance  in  her  day,  and  made  no 
contributions  to  civilized  life.  But  shortly  before  the  over- 
throw of  Babylon,  two  new  centers  of  power  appeared,  one  on 
either  side  of  the  older  field.     These  were  Persia  and  Lydia. 

70.  Expansion  on  the  West.  —  Lydia  was  a  kingdom  in  west- 
ern Asia  Minor.  Somewhat  before  550  b.c.  its  sovereign, 
Croesus,  united  all  Asia  Minor  west  of  the  Halys  River  under 
his  sway.  This  made  the  Lydian  Empire  for  a  time  one  of 
the  great  world-powers  (see  map  following).  The  region  was 
rich,  especially  in  metals ;  and  the  wealth  of  the  monarch  so 
impressed  the  Greeks  that  "  rich  as  Croesus  "  became  a  by- 
word. Croesus  counted  among  his  subjects  the  Greek  cities 
that  fringed  the  western  coast  of  Asia  Minor.  AVe  have  noticed 
that,  shortly  before,  Greeks  had  been  brought  into  close  touch 
with  Egypt.  From  this  time,  histori/  has  to  do  irith  Europe  as 
loell  as  ivith  Asia  and  Egypt;  and  soon  that  new  field  was  to 
become  the  center  of  interest. 

Lydia's  own  gift  to  the  world  was  the  invention  of  coinage. 
As  early  as  G50  b.c,  a  Lydian  king  stamped  upon  pieces  of 
silver  a  statement  of  their  weight  and  purity,  with  his  name 
and  picture  as  guarantee  of  the  truth  of  the  statement.  Until 
this  time,  little  advance  had  been  made  over  the  old  Egyptian 
method  of  trade,  except  that  the  use  of  silver  rings  and  bars 
had  become  more  common.     The  Babylonians,  along  with  their 

82 


§  72]  RISE   AND   GROWTH  83 

other  weights  and  measures,  had  taught  the  world  to  count 
riches  in  shekels,  —  a  certain  weight  of  silver,  —  but  there  were 
no  coined  shekels.  The  ring  and  bar  ''  money "  had  to  be 
weighed  each  time  it  passed  from  hand  to  hand ;  and  even  then 
there  was  little  security  against  cheaper  metals  being  mixed 
with  the  silver.^  The  true  money  of  Lydia  could  be  received 
anywhere  at  once  at  a  hxed  rate.  This  made  all  forms  of 
trade  and  commerce  vastly  easier.  Other  states  began  to 
adopt  systems  of  coinage  of  their  own.  Ever  since,  the  coinage 
of  money  has  been  one  of  the  important  duties  of  governments. 

We  must  not.  suppose,  however,  that  the  old  sort  of  •'  barter  '"  vanished 
at  once.  It  remained  the  common  method  of  exchange  in  all  but  the 
great  markets  of  the  world  for  centuries  ;  and  in  new  countries  it  has 
appeared,  in  the  lack  of  coined  money,  in  very  modern  times.  In  our 
early  New  England  colonies  there  were  limes  when  people  paid  taxes  and 
debts  "in  kind,"  much  after  the  old  Egyptian  fashion.  One  student  at 
Harvard  college,  who  afterward  became  its  president,  is  recorded  as  paying 
his  tuition  with  "  an  old  cow." 

71.  Expansion  in  the  East. — On  the  farther  side  of  the 
Eu])hrates  and  Tigris  lay  the  lofty  and  somewhat  arid  Plateau 
of  Iran.  This  was  the  home  of  the  Males  and  Persians.  These 
peoples  appeared  first  about  850  b.c,  as  fierce  barbarians, 
whom  Assyria  found  it  needful  to  subdue  repeatedly.  Grad- 
ually they  adopted  the  civilization  of  their  neighbors ;  then, 
about  625  b.c,  a  chieftain  of  the  Medes  united  the  western 
tribes  of  the  plateau  into  a  tirm  monarchy ;  and  in  GOG,  as  we 
have  seen,  this  new  power  conquered  Assyria. 

We  are  now  ready  to  take  up  again  the  story  of  the  growth  of  the 
great  Oriental  empires,  where  we  left  it  at  the  close  of  Chapter  III. 
Chapter  IV,  dealing  with  the  small  Syrian  states,  was  a  necessary  inter- 
ruption to  that  story. 

72.  Rise  of  the  Persian  Empire.  —  The  destruction  of  Assyrian 
rule,  which  we  noted  toward  the  close  of  §  41,  took  place  some 

1  In  all  this  ancient  period,  silver  was  more  valuable  than  gold,  and  so  was 
taken  for  the  standard  of  value. 


84  THE   PERSIAN   EMPIRE  [§72 

years  before  600  b.c.  Then  the  civilized  world  was  divided, 
for  three  generations,^  between  four  great  powers,  —  Babylon, 
Egypt,  Lydia,  and  Media.  Most  of  that  time,  these  kingdoms 
were  bound  together  in  a  friendly  alliance ;  and  the  civilized 
world  had  a  rare  rest  from  internal  war.  Media,  it  is  true, 
busied  herself  in  extending  her  dominions  by  war  with  barbar- 
ous tribes  on  the  east.  By  such  means  she  added  to  her  terri- 
tory all  the  Plateau  of  Iran  and  the  northern  portion  of  the  old 
Assyrian  Empire.  This  made  her  far  the  largest  of  the  four 
states.  But  in  558  b.c,  Cyrus,  a  tributary  prince  of  the  Persian 
tribes,  threw  off  the  yoke  of  the  Medes  and  set  up  an  inde- 
pendent Persian  monarchy.^ 

Then  Persia  quickly  became  the  largest  and  most  powerful 
empire  the  world  had  known.  The  war  with  Media  resulted 
in  the  rapid  conquest  of  that  state.  This  victory  led  Cyrus 
into  war  with  Lydia  and  Babylon,  which  were  allies  of  Media. 
Again  he  was  overwhelmingly  victorious.  He  conquered 
Croesus  of  Lydia  and  seized  upon  all  Asia  Minor.  Then  he 
captured  Babylon,  and  so  was  left  without  a  rival  in  the 
Euphrates  and  Syrian  districts.  A  few  years  later  his  son 
subdued  Egypt.  Thus  the  neio  empire  included  all  the  former 
empires,  together  icith  the  new  districts  of  Iran  and  Asia  Minor. 

With  the  Greeks  Persia  came  into  conflict,  about  thirty  years  after 
the  death  of  Cyrus.  The  story  belongs  to  European  history  (§§  158  ff.). 
It  is  enough  here  to  note  that  the  Persians  were  finally  defeated.  Their 
empire  lasted,  however,  a  century  and  a  half  more,  until  Alexander  the 
Great  conquered  it  and  united  it  with  the  Greek  world  (§§  276  ff.). 

1  It  is  time  for  the  student  to  have  a  definite  understanding  of  this  term, 
which  is  used  constantly  in  measuring  time.  A  generation  means  the  aver- 
age interval  that  separates  a  father  from  his  son.  This  corresponds  in  length, 
also,  in  a  rough  way,  to  the  active  years  of  adult  life. — the  period,  between 
early  manhood  and  old  age.    It  is  reckoned  at  ticenty-ftve  or  thirty  years. 

2  This  prince  is  known  in  history  as  Cyrus  the  Great.  He  is  the  earliest 
sovereign  whose  name  we  distinguish  in  that  way.  A  student  may  well  make 
a  special  report  to  the  class  upon  the  stories  connected  with  his  life.  Any 
large  history  of  ancient  times  gives  some  of  these  stories  ;  and  they  may  be 
found,  in  the  original  form  in  which  they  have  come  down  to  us,  in  a  transla- 
tion of  Herodotus.    See  also  Davis'  Readings,  Vol.  I,  Nos.  25  and  26. 


liiWi 


§74] 


RISE  AND   GROWTH 


85 


73.  Extent  of  the  Empire.  —  The  field  of  history  now  widened 
again.  The  next  three  Persian  kings  (after  Cyrus  and  his 
son)  added  vast  districts  to  the  empire  :  on  the  east,  modern 
Afghanistan  and  northwestern  India,  with  wide  regions  to  the 
northeast  beyond  the  Caspian  Sea ;  and  on  the  west,  the  Euro- 
pean coast  from  the  Black  Sea  to  the  Greek  peninsula  and 
the  islands  of  the  ^geau. 

This  huge  empire  contained  about  seventy-live  million  people. 
Its  only    civilized  neighbors  were    India   and    Greece.     Else- 


i-MrUKSSION    FROM    PERSIAN   CyLINDKR    SkAI.. 


where,  indeed,  it  was  bounded  by  seas  and  deserts.  The 
eastern  and  western  frontiers  were  farther  apart  than  Wash- 
ington and  San  Francisco.  The  territory  included  some  two 
million  square  miles.  It  was  four  times  as  large  as  the  Assyr- 
ian Empire,  and  equaled  more  than  half  modern  Europe. 

74.  Industry  and  Art.  —  Originally,  the  Persians  were  lowly 
shepherds.  Later,  they  were  soldiers  and  rulers.  After  their 
sudden  conquests,  the  small  population  had  to  furnish  garri- 
sons for  all  the  chief  cities  of  the  empire,  while  the  nobles 
were  busied  as  officers  in  the  vast  organization  of  the  govern- 
ment. Accordingly,  Persian  art  and  literature  were  wholly 
borrowed,  —  mainly  from  Babylonia.     The  cuneiform  writing 


86  THE   PERSIAN   EMPIRE  [§75 

was  adopted  from  that  land ;  and  even  the  noble  palaces, 
which  have  been  rediscovered  at  Perse])olis,  were  only  copies 
of  Assyrian  palaces,  built  in  stone  instead  of  in  clay.  Persia's 
services  to  the  ivorld  were  four :  the  immense  expansion  of  the 
map  already  discussed ;  the  repulse  of  Scythian  savages  (§  75)  ;  a 
better  organization  of  government  (§§  76,  77);  and  the  lofty  char- 
acter of  her  religion  (§  78).' 

75,  Persia  and  the  Scythians.  —  About  680  b.c,  shortly  be- 
fore the  downfall  of  Nineveh,  the  frozen  steppes  of  the  North 
had  poured  hordes  of  savages  into  western  Asia  (§  40).  By 
the  Greeks  these  nomads  were  called  Scythians,  and  their  in- 
roads were  like  those  of  the  Huns,  Turks,  and  Tartars,  in  later 
history.  They  plundered  as  far  as  Egypt ;  and  they  were  a 
real  danger  to  all  the  culture  the  world  had  been  building  up 
so  painfully  for  four  thousand  years,  Assyria  and  Lydia  both 
proved  helpless  to  hold  them  back ;  but  the  Medes  and  Persians 
saved  civilization.  The  Medes  drove  the  ruthless  ravagers 
back  to  their  own  deserts ;  and  the  early  Persian  kings  made 
repeated  expeditions  into  the  Scythian  country.  By  these 
means  the  barbarians  were  awed,  and  for  centuries  the  danger 
of  their  attacks  was  averted. 

Darius,  the  greatest  of  the  successors  of  Cyrus,  seems  to 
have  justified  his  conquests  on  the  ground  of  this  service  to 
civilization.  In  a  famous  inscription  enumerating  his  con- 
quests, he  says  :  "  Ahura-Mazda  [the  God  of  Light]  delivered 
unto  me  these  countries  when  he  saw  them  in  uproar.  .  .  . 
By  the  grace  of  Ahura-Mazda  I  have  brought  them  to  order 
again." 

The  lengthy  inscription  from  which  this  passage  is  taken  is  cut  into 
a  rock  cliff,  300  feet  from  the  base,  in  three  parallel  columns,  in  different 
languages,  —  Persian,  Babylonian,  and  Tartar.  It  served  as  the  ••  Rosetta 
Stone"  of  the  cuneiform  writing  (§  5).  Enough  of  the  Persian  was 
known  so  that  from  it  scholars  learned  how  to  read  the  Babylonian. 
Davis'  Readings,  Vol.  I,  No.  27,  gives  a  large  part  of  this  inscription, 

1  Observe  that  three  of  the  four  were  connected  with  political  history,  —  as 
we  might  expect  with  a  people  like  the  Persians. 


76] 


ORGANIZATION 


87 


which  is  one  of  the  most  important  documents  of  early  history,  throw- 
ing much  light  upon  Persian  life  and  ideals. 

76.  The  Imperial  Government.  —  The  empires  which  came 
before  the  Assyrian  liad  very  simple  machinery  for  their 
government.  The  tribu- 
tary states  kept  their  old 
kings  and  their  separate 
languages,  religions,  laws, 
and  customs.  Two  sub- 
ject kingdoms  might  even 
make  war  upon  each  othei-, 
without  interference  from 
the  head  king.  Indeed, 
the  different  kingdoms 
within  an  empire  re- 
mained almost  as  separate 
as  before  they  became 
parts  of  the  conquering 
state,  except  in  three  re- 
spects :  they  had  to  pay 
tribute ;  they  had  to  assist 
in  war;  and  their  kings 
were  expected,  from  time 
to  time,  to  attend  the  court 
of  the  imperial  master.' 

Plainly,  such  an  empire 
would  fall  to  pieces  easily. 
If  any  disaster  happened 
to  the  ruling  state,  —  if  a 
foreign  invasion  or  the  unexpected  death  of  a  sovereign  oc- 
curred,—  the  whole  fabric  might  be  shattered  at  a  moment. 
Each  of  the  original    kingdoms    would   become   independent 


Pkusia.n    Qukkn;    fragment  of    a   bronze 
statue.    The  dress  seems  very  "  modern." 


iThe  brief  empire  of  the  Jews,  for  instance,  had  been  of  this  nature. 
Solomon,  the  Book  of  Kinys  tells  ns,  "  rt'i<;ne(l  over  all  the  kiriffflnins  .  .  , 
unto  the  border  of  Egypt;  they  brought  presents  and  served  Solomon." 


88  THE   PERSIAN  EMPIRE  [§76 

;iK;iiii ;  .'iii«l  tln'ii  uoiilil  follow  years  of  bloody  war,  until  some 
kin^,'  built  up  the  ciiipirf  once  more.  Peace  and  security  could 
not  exist  nndtT  such  a  system. 

Assyria,  it  is  true,  had  be^'un  to  reform  this  system.  The 
great  Assyrian  ruhu-s  of  the  eif,'hth  century  were  not  simply 
coixiucrors.  They  were  also  organizers.  They  left  the  subject 
peoples  their  own  laws  and  customs,  as  before;  but  they  broke 
up  some  of  the  old  kingdoms  into  satrapies,  or  provinces,  ruled 
by  appointed  officers  (§  40). 

The  system,  however,  was  still  unsatisfactory.  In  theory 
the  satrujis  were  wholly  dependent  upon  the  will  of  the  im- 
perial king;  but  in  i)ractice  they  were  very  nearly  kings 
themselvt's,  and  ihey  were  under  constant  temptation  to  try 
to  bec(»me  iiide[)endent  rulers,  by  rebellicm. 

This  was  the  plan  of  imperial  government  as  the  Persians 
found  it.  They  adopted  and  extended  the  system  of  satraps; 
and  Darius,  the  fourth  Persian  king  (521-485  B.C.),  introduced 
three  rhecks  -upon  rebellion.  In  each  of  the  twenty  provinces, 
power  was  divided  between  the  satrap  himself  and  the  com- 
mander of  the  standing  army.  In  each  province  was  placed 
a  royal  secretary  (the  "  King's  Ear ")  to  communicate  con- 
stantly with  the  Great  King.  And,  most  important  of  all, 
a  special  royal  commissioner  (the  **  King's  Eye  "),  backed  with 
military  forces,  appeared  at  intervals  in  each  satrapy  to  in- 
(juire  into  the  government,  and,  if  necessary,  to  arrest  the 
satrap. 

Darius  is  well  called  *'  the  Orcjanizer."  Political  organiza- 
tion advanced  no  farther  until  Roman  times.  Not  much  had 
been  done  to  promote  a  spirit  of  nnity  among  the  diverse 
])eoples  of  the  em])ire.  Each  still  kept  its  separate  language 
and  customs.  Still,  for  the  age,  the  organization  of  Darius 
was  a  nuirvelous  work.  It  was  the  most  satisfactory  ever 
devised  by  Orientals;  and  indeed  it  was  nearer  to  the  later 
Roman  imperial  government  than  to  the  older  and  looser 
Asiatic  system  of  kingdom-empires.  The  modern  Turkish 
empire,  in  its  best  days,  has  used  this  system. 


§  77]  ORGANIZATION  89 

77.  Post  Roads. — The  Persians,  too,  were  more  thoughtful 
of  the  welfare  of  their  subjects  than  the  Assyrians  had  been. 
To  draw  the  distant  parts  of  the  empire  closer,  Darius  built 
a  magnificent  system  of  post  roads,  with  milestones  and  ex- 
cellent inns,  with  ferries  and  bridges,  and  with  relays  of 
horses  for  the  royal  couriers.  The  chief  road,  from  Susa  to 
Sardis  (map,  after  page  84),  was  over  fifteen    hundred  miles 


Persian  Bkonze  Lion,  at  Susa. 

long;  and  it  is  said  that  dispatches  were  sometimes  carried 
its  whole  length  in  six  days,  although  ordinary  travel  required 
three  months.  Benjamin  Ide  Wheeler  writes  of  this  great 
highway  (Alexander  the  Great,  196-197)  :  — 

"  All  the  diverse  life  of  the  countries  it  traversed  was  drawn  into 
its  paths.  Carians  and  Cilicians,  Phrygians  and  Cappadocians,  staid 
Lydians,  sociable  Greeks,  crafty  Armenians,  rude  traders  from  the 
Euxine  shores,  nabobs  of  Babylon,  Medes  and  Persians,  galloping 
couriers  mounted  on  their  Bokhara  ponies  or  fine  Arab  steeds,  envoys 
with  train  and  state,  peasants  driving  their  donkeys  laden  with  skins  of 
oil  or  wine  or  sacks  of  grain,  stately  caravans  bearing  the  wares  and 
fabrics  of  the  south  to  exchange  for  the  metals,  slaves,  and  grain  of  the 
north,  travelers  and  traders  seeking  to  know  and  exploit  the  world,  —  all 


90  THE   PERSIAN   EMPIRE  (§78 

wtTc  thoro,  and  all  were  safe  under  the  j)rf)tection  of  an  empire  the  road- 
way of  which  pierced  tiie  Htrala  of  many  tribeK  and  many  cultures,  atul 
helped  set  the  loorld  a-mixintj.'''' 

78.  Religion  and  Morals. — Wliile  they  were  still  barbarous 
tribes,  the  early  Ter-sians  liatl  learned  to  worship  tlie  forces  of 
nature,  —  especially  sun,  moon,  stars,  and  fire.  This  worship 
was  in  the  hands  of  priests,  called  Macji,  who  were  believed  to 
possess  what  we  call  titmjic  powers  over  nature  and  other  men. 

Even  this  early  religion  had  few  of  the  lower  features  that 
we  have  noted  in  the  worship  of  the  Egyptians  and  Babylo- 
nians, lint  the  Persians  of  the  historic  age  had  risen  to  a  far 
nobler  worship.  This  is  set  forth  in  the  Zend-Avesta  (the 
Persian  Bible),  and  it  had  been  established  about  1000  b.o.^ 
by  Zoroaster.  According  to  this  great  teacher,  the  world  was 
a  stage  for  unceasing  conflict  between  the  powers  of  Light  and 
Darkness,  or  Good  and  Evil.  It  was  man's  duty  to  assist  the 
good  power  by  resisting  evil  impulses  in  his  own  heart  and  by 
fighting  injustice  among  men.  It  was  also  his  place  to  kill 
harmful  beasts,  to  care  tenderly  for  other  animals,  and  to  make 
the  earth  fruitful. 

The  superstitions  of  Macjism  continued  to  crop  out  among  the 
masses  of  the  people  ;  and  the  earlier  nature  worship  survived, 
too,  in  the  belief  in  a  multitude  of  angels,  good  and  bad ;  but 
idolatry  was  not  permitted,  and  this  Zoroastrian  faith  was  by 
far  the  purest  of  the  ancient  world,  except  that  of  the  Hebrews. 
When  the  Persians  became  supreme,  they  showed  marked  favor 
to  the  Hebrews.  Cyrus  permitted  them  to  return  from  the 
Babylonian  captivity  (§  G6),  and  even  helped  them  to  rebuild 
the  Temple.  These  friendly  relations  were  due  in  part,  no 
doubt,  to  similarity  in  religious  thought. 

The  following  passage  from  the  Zend-Avesta  shows  the 
Persian  idea  of  the  future  life. 

At  the  head  of  the  Chinvat  Bridjje,  betwixt  this  world  and  the  next, 
when  the  soul  goes  over  it,  there  comes  a  fair,  white-armed  and  beautiful 

1  This  date  is  uncertain.    Some  scholars  put  Zoroaster  as  late  as  600  b.c. 


§78]  RELIGION  AND  MORALS  91 

figure,  like  a  maid  in  her  fifteenth  year,  as  fair  as  the  fairest  things  in  the 
world.  And  the  soul  of  the  true  believer  speaks  to  her,  "  What  maid 
art  thou,  —  all  surpassing  in  thy  beauty  ?  "  And  she  makes  answer,  '•  O 
youth  of  good  thought,  good  words,  good  deeds,  and  of  good  religion :  — 
I  am  thine  own  conscience.'''' 

Then  pass  the  souls  of  the  righteous  to  the  golden  seat  of  Ahura-Mazda, 
of  the  Archangels,  to  .  .  .  "  The  Abode  of  Song." 

Another  passage  tells  how  the  souls  of  the  wicked  are  met  by  a  foul 
hag  and  are  plunged  into  a  hideous  pit,  to  suffer  endless  torment.  • 

The  cardinal  virtue  was  truthfulness.  Darius'  instructions 
to  his  successor  began :  "  Keep  thyself  utterly  from  lies. 
The  man  who  may  be  a  liar,  him  destroy  utterly.  If  thou  do 
thus,  my  country  will  remain  whole."  A  century  later,  the 
Greek  Herodotus  admired  the  manly  sports  of  the  Persians 
and  the  simple  trainings  of  their  boys,  —  ''to  ride,  to  shoot 
with  the  bow,  and  to  speak  the  truth." 

Conquest  and  dominion  corrupted  in  some  measure  their 
early  simplicity  ;  but  to  the  last,  the  Persians  fought  gallantly, 
and  the  Greeks  conquered  in  battle  because  of  improved  weap- 
ons and  better  generalship,  not  from  superior  bravery. 


For  Furthkk  Reading. —  There  is  an  admirable  twenty-page  treatment 
of  the  Persian  Empire  in  Benjamin  Ide  Wheeler's  Alexander  the  Great 
(pp.  187-207),  —  a  book  which  for  other  reasons  deserves  a  place  in  every 
school  library. 

Exercise.  —  Would  you  have  expected  the  Persians  to  adopt  the 
Egj-ptian  hieroglyphs  or  the  cuneiform  writing  ?  Why  ?  In  what  ways 
was  the  organization  of  the  Persian  empire  an  improvement  upon  that  of 
the  Assyrian  ?  In  what  way  did  Assyrian  organization  improve  upon 
Egyptian  ? 

1  Davis'  Readings,  Vol.  I,  Nos.  27  Oater  portion),  28,  29,  30,  31,  contain 
much  interesting  material  upon  Persian  religion  and  morals. 


CHAI'TKIl   VI 


A   SUMMARY   OF   ORIENTAL   CIVILIZATION 

A  compact  summary,  like  the  following,  is  best  suited  for 
reading  in  class,  with  comment  or  questions. 

79.    The  Bright  Side.  —  Seven    tliousand    years   ago,  in   the 
viillcys  of  tlic  Nile  and  Kuphrates.  men  developed  a  remarkable 

civilization.  They  in- 
vented excellent  tools 
of  bronze  (and  later 
of  iron),  and  practised 
many  arts  and.  crafts 
with  a  skill  of  hand 
that  has  never  been 
surpassed.  They 
l)uilt  great  cities,  with 
pleasant  homes  for 
the  wealthy,  and  with 
splendid  palaces  for 
their  princes.  They 
learned  how  to  record 
their  thoughts  and 
doings  and  inventions 
in  writing,  for  one  an- 
other and  for  their  descendants.  They  built  roads  and  canals ; 
and  with  ships  and  caravans,  they  sought  out  the  treasures  of 
distant  regions,  while  the  wealth,  so  heaped  up,  was  spent  by 
their  rulers  with  gorgeous  pomp  and  splendor.  They  foi;nd 
out  part  of  the  value  of  government  (to  hold  together  a  large 
society  of  men),  and  the  need  of  human  law,  to  regulate  their 
relations  with  one  another.  Their  thinkers,  too,  found  in  their 
own  consciences  some  of  the  highest  moral  truths,  and  taught 
the  duty  of  truthfulness,  justice,  and  mercy. 

93 


Persian  Jkwelry. 


§81]  BRIGHT  AND   DARK  SIDES  93 

War  and  trade  carried  this  culture  slowly  around  the  eastern 
coasts  of  the  Mediterranean ;  and  before  1000  b.c.  Phoenician 
traders  had  scattered  its  seeds  more  widely  in  many  regions. 
Five  hundred  years  later,  Persia  saved  the  slow  gains  of  the 
ages  from  barbarian  ravagers,  and  united  and  organized  all  the 
civilized  East  under  an  effective  system  of  government. 

80.  The  Dark  Side.  —  This  Oriental  culture,  however,  was 
marred  by  serious  faults. 

Its  benefits  were  for  afen)  only. 

Government  was  despotic.  The  people  worshiped  the  mon- 
arch with  slavish  submission. 

Art  icas  unnatnraL  Sculpture  mingled  the  monstrous  and 
grotesque  with  the  human ;  and  architecture  sought  to  rouse 
admiration  by  colossal  size,  rather  than  by  beauty  and  true 
proportion.  ]\Iost  literature  was  pompous  and  stilted,  or  de- 
faced by  extravagant  fancies,  —  like  the  story  of  a  king  who 
lived  many  thousand  years  before  his  first  gray  hair  appeared. 

Learning  was  allied  to  absurd  and  evil  siqyerstition.  Men's 
minds  were  en.slaved  by  tradition  and  custom;  and  progress 
was  hampered  by  fear  of  the  mysterious  in  nature. 

3Iost  religions  (along  with  better  features)  fostered  lust  and 
cruelty.  Toward  the  close  of  the  period,  it  is  true,  there  had 
grown  up  among  the  Hebrews  a  pure  worship,  whose  truth 
and  grandeur  were  to  influence  profoundly  the  later  world. 
But,  for  centuries  more,  this  religion  Avas  the  possession  of 
only  one  small  people.  Xor  did  the  lofty  religious  ideas  of 
the  Persians  much  affect  any  other  people  of  the  ancient  world. 
These  were  not  missionary  religions. 

Tliere  was  little  variety  in  the  different  civilizations  of  the 
Orient.  They  differed  in  certain  minor  ways,  but  not  as  the 
later  European  nations  did.  Thus  they  lacked  a  wholesome 
rivalry  to  stimulate  them  to  continued  progress.  Each  civiliza- 
tion reached  its  best  stage  early,  and  then  hardened  into  set 
customs. 

81.  The  Question  of  Further  Progress.  —  Whether  the  Orien- 
tal world  would  have  made  further  progress,  if  left  to  itself,  we 


IM  ORIKNTAL  ("Ivn.lZATIONS  [§81 

(•.iiiiiot  know  siiroly.  It  sfenis  not  likely.  China  and  India, 
wo  know,  madr  siniiliir  l)f'^,dnnings,  but  became  stationary, 
and  havf  rtMiiaint'd  so  for  centuries  since.  In  like  fashion, 
the  Oriental  civili/aticjiis  which  we  have  been  studying  appear 
to  have  been  growing  stagnant.  Twice  as  long  a  period  had 
already  elapsed  since  their  V)eginning,  as  has  sufficed  for  all  our 
Western  growth.  Very  probably,  they  would  have  crystallized, 
with  all  their  faults,  had  not  new  actors  appeared.  To  these 
new  actors  and  their  new  stage  we  now  turn. 


SCOOESTIONS    FOR    ReVIEW 


I>rt  the  clas-s  prepare  review  questions,  each  member  five  or  ten,  to  ask 
of  the  others.  Criticize  tiie  questions,  showing  which  ones  help  to  bring  out 
important  facts  and  contrasts  and  likenesses,  and  which  are  merely  trivial 
or  curious.  The  author  of  this  volume  does  not  think  it  worth  while  to 
hold  students  responsible  for  dates  in  Part  I,  unless,  perhaps,  for  a  few 
of  the  later  ones.  The  table  in  §  158  below  may  be  used  for  cross  refer- 
ence and  reviews.  It  is  well  to  make  lists  of  important  names  or  terms 
for  rapid  drill,  demanding  brief  but  clear  explanation  of  each  term,  i.e., 
ruiiPiform,  shekel,  liyksos,  papyrus.  Read  over  the  "theme  sentences," 
in  quotation,  at  the  top  of  Chapters  or  Divisions  (on  pages  1,  11,  15,  80), 
and  see  whether  the  class  feel,  in  part  at  least,  their  applications. 

Sample  Qnestin».<t:  (1)  Why  is  Chaldea  (whose  civilization  has  been 
overthrown)  better  worth  our  study  than  China  (where  an  ancient  civili- 
zation still  exi.sts)?  (2)  In  what  did  the  Egyptians  excel  the  Babylo- 
nians? (3)  In  what  did  the  Babylonians  excel  the  Egyptians?  (4)  In 
what  did  the  Persians  excel  both  ?  (5)  Trace  the  growth  of  the  map  for 
civilized  countries.  (6)  Name  four  contributions  to  civilization,  not 
mentioned  in  §  79.  but  important  enough  to  deserve  a  place  there  if  space 
permitted. 

Caution:  Make  sure  that  the  terms  "empire,"'  "state,"'  "tributary 
state,"  "civilization,"  have  a  definite  meaning  for  the  student.  (See 
preceding  text  or  footnotes.) 

It  does  not  seem  to  the  author  advisable  to  recommend  young  high 
school  students  to  read  widely  upon  the  Oriental  peoples  in  connection 
with  the  first  year  in  history.  The  material  in  Davis'  Headings  is  ad- 
mirable for  all  classes.  And  a  few  select  titles  for  the  school  library  are 
given  in  the  appendix,  from  which  the  teacher  may  make  assignments  if 
it  seems  best. 


;icl — • 


GREECE 

AXIJ 

ADJOINING  COASTS 

(For  (Jcneral  Keterence) 

SCA'-E  OF  MILES 


0  25  50  75          100        12 


lonians 
Dorians 
JEolians 
Boute  of  Xerxes 

L_ 

20 


PART    II 

THE  GKEEKS 

Greece  —  that  point  of  light  in  history  !  —  Hegel. 

We  are  all  Greeks.  Our  laws,  unr  literature,  our  religion,  our  art, 
have  their  roots  in  Greece.  —  Siieli.ky. 

Except  the  blind  forces  of  nature,  there  is  nothing  that  MoVKS  in  the 
world  to-day  that  is  not  Greek  in  origin.  —  Hknky  Simxek  Maine. 

STUDY   OF   THE   MAPS   AFTER    PAGES   94   AND  98 

Note  the  three  great  divisions:  Northern  Greece  (Epirus  and  Thes- 
saly);  Central  Greece  (a  group  of  eleven  districts,  to  tlie  isthmus  of 
Corinth)  ;  and  the  Peloponnesus  (the  southern  peninsula).  Name  the 
districts  from  Phocis  south,  and  the  chief  cities  in  each,  as  shown  on  the 
map.  Which  districts  have  no  coast  ?  Locate  Delphi,  Thermopylae, 
Tempe,  Parnassus,  Olympus,  Olympia,  Salamis,  Ithaca,  eight  islands, 
three  cities  on  the  Asiatic  side.  Draw  the  map  with  the  amount  of  detail 
just  indicated.  Examine  the  map  frequently  in  preparing  the  next  lesson. 
{The  index  tells  on  ivhat  map  each  geographical  name  used  in  the  book  can 
be  found,  — except  in  a  few  cases,  like  Pacific  Ocean.) 


CHAPTER   VII 

INFLUENCE  OF   GEOGRAPHY 

82.  Europe  contrasted  with  Asia.  —  Asia  and  Egypt  had  de- 
veloped the  earliest  civilizations.  But,  for  at  least  half  of 
their  four  thousand  years,  another  culture  had  been  rising 
slowly  along  the  coasts  and  islands  of  southern  Europe.  Tliis 
European  civilization  began  independently  of  the  older  ones.  It 
drew  from  them  in  many  ways  (as  we  shall  see  more  clearly  a 
little  farther  on) ;  but  it  always  kept  a  distinct  character  of 

95 


96  THE   GREEKS  [§  S3 

its  own.  y/if  (lijfprpnce  khh  (hie,  in  pint,  at  least,  to  (lijfereures 
in  2>hysical  ijeoijrdpkjf.  Four  IV'atnrf^s  of  European  ge(jgra]jhy 
were  specially  important :  — 

Europe  is  a  peninsula.      Tlie  sea  is  easy  of  access} 

Euri)})e  has  a  more  temperate  climate  than  the  semitropical 
river  valleys  of  Asia;  anil  food  crops  demand  more  cidtioation. 
These  conditions  called  for  greater  exertion  upon  the  part  of 
man.  Moreover,  the  natural  products  of  Europe  were  more 
varied  than  those  of  Asia.  This  led  to  greater  variety  in  human 
occupations.  The  beginnings  of  civilization  were  slower  in 
Europe;  but  man  was  finally  to  count  for  more  there  than  in 
Asia. 

In  contrast  with  the  vast  Asiatic  plains  and  valleys,  Europe 
is  broken  into  many  small  districts,  fit  to  become  the  homes  of 
distinct  peoples.  Thus  many  separate  civilizations  grew  up  in 
touch  with  one  another.  Their  natural  boundaries  kept  one 
from  absorbing  the  others.  So  they  remained  mutually  help- 
ful by  their  rivalry  and  intercourse. 

Europe  could  not  easih/  he  conquered  by  the  Asiatic  empires. 
This  consideration  was  highly  important.  Some  districts  of 
Asia,  such  as  western  Syria  and  parts  of  Asia  ]\Iinor,  had  a 
physical  character  like  that  of  Europe.  Accordingly,  in  these 
places,  civilizations  had  begun,  with  a  character  like  that  of 
later  European  peoples.  15ut  these  states  were  reached  easily 
by  the  forces  of  the  earlier  and  mightier  river-empires ;  and  in 
the  end  the  "  Asiatic  character "  was  always  imposed  upon 
them.  Europe  was  saved,  partly  by  its  remoteness,  but  more 
by  the  Mediterranean. 

83.  The  Mediterranean  has  been  a  mighty  factor  in  European 
history.  Indeed,  through  all  ancient  history,  European  civili- 
zation was  merely  "  Mediterranean  civilization."  It  never 
ventured  far  from  the  coasts  of  that  sea.  The  Mediterranean 
was  the  great  hiyhicay  for  friendly  intercourse,  and  the  great 

I  Through  all  "ancient  history"  (§  4),  "Europe"  means  southern  and 
central  Europe.  Russian  Europe,  indeed,  is  really  part  of  Asia  in  geography, 
and  it  has  always  been  Asiatic  rather  than  European  in  culture. 


§85]  INFLUENCE  OF  GEOGRAPHY  97 

harrier  against  Asiatic  conquest.  Thus,  Persia  subdued  the 
Asiatic  Greeks,  almost  without  a  blow :  the  European  Greeks 
she  failed  to  conquer  even  by  supreme  effort. 

To  understand  this  value  of  the  sea  as  a  barrier,  we  must  keep  in 
mind  the  character  of  ships  in  early  times.  The  sea  was  the  easiest 
road  for  merchants,  traveling  in  single  vessels  and  certain  of  friendly 
welcome  at  almost  any  port.  But  oars  were  the  main  force  that  drove 
the  ship  (sails  were  used  only  when  the  wind  was  very  favorable) ;  and 
the  small  vessels  of  that  day  could  not  carry  many  more  people  than 
were  needed  to  man  the  benches  of  oarsmen.  To  transport  a  large 
army,  in  this  way.  with  needful  supplies.  —  in  condition,  too.  to  meet 
a  hostile  army  at  the  landing  place.  — was  almost  impossible. 

84.  Greece  was  typical  of  Europe  in  geography  and  civilization. 
The  Greeks  called  themselves  Hellenes  (as  they  do  still). 
Hellas  meant  not  European  Greece  alone,  but  all  the  lands  of 
the  Hellenes.  It  included  the  Greek  peninsula,  the  shores  and 
islands  of  the  Aegean,  Greek  colonies  on  tlie  Black  Sea,  to  the 
east,  and  in  Sicily  and  southern  Italy,  to  the  west,  with  scat- 
tered patches  elsewhere  along  the  Mediterranean. 

Still,  the  central  peninsula  remained  the  heart  of  Hellas. 
Epirus  and  Thessaly  had  little  to  do  with  Greek  history. 
Omitting  them,  the  area  of  Greece  is  less  than  a  fourth  of  that 
of  Xew  York.  In  this  little  district  are  found  all  the  charac- 
teristic traits  of  European  geography.  It  has  been  well  called 
the  "most  European  of  Eurojjean  lands,''  and  it  became  the  first 
home  of  European  cidfirre. 

85.  Greek  Geography  and  its  Influence.  —  Certain  factors  in 
Greek  geography  deserve  special  mention  even  though  we  re- 
peat part  of  what  has  been  said  of  Europe  as  a  whole. 

a.  Tlie  islands  and  the  patches  of  Greek  settlements  on 
distant  coasts  made  mani/  distinrt  (jeographieal  divisions.  Even 
the  little  Greek  peninsula  counted  more  than  twenty  such  units, 
each  shut  off  from  the  others  by  its  strip  of  sea  and  its  moun- 
tain walls.  Some  of  these  divisions  were  about  as  large  as  an 
American  township,  and  the  large  ones  (except  Thessaly  and 
Epirus)  were  only  seven  or  eight  times  that  size. 


()g  THE  GREEKS  [§85 

The  little  states  which  ^rew  up  in  these  divisions  differed  widely 
from  one  another.  Some  were  monarchies;  some,  oligarchies;  some, 
dcmocracie*.'  In  some,  the  chief  industry  was  trade;  in  some,  it  was 
ftRricuiture.  In  some,  the  people  were  slow  and  conservative  ;  in  others, 
they  were  enterpri.tinK  and  progressive.  Oriental  civilizations,  we  have 
seen  (;»  80).  were  marked  by  too  great  uniformity;  the  civilizations  of 
European  countries  have  been  marked  by  a  wholesome  diversity.  This 
character  was  found  especially  among  the  Greeks. 

//.  Mtmntaiii  iionplc,  liviiij;  :ii)art,  are  u.sually  rude  and  con- 
.scrvativf  ;  \n\\  frmn.  smh  tcinletiripii  Greece  tvas  saved  bij  the  sea. 
Thf  .sfii  iu:u1p  fri»'iMlly  intercourse  po.ssible  on  a  large  scale, 
and  lnuuKlit.  Athens  a,s  closely  into  touch  with  Miletus  (in 
Asiiu  :i.s  with  Sparta  or  Olynipia.  This  value  of  the  sea,  too, 
held  ^(mmI  for  different  parts  of  "European  Greece"  itself. 
The  peninsida  has  Ifss  area  than  I'ortugal,  but  a  longer  coast 
line  than  all  the  Spanish  peninsida.  The  very  heart  of  the 
land  is  broken  into  islands  and  promontories,  so  that  it  is  hard 
to  find  a  spot  thirty  miles  distant  from  the  sea. 

«•.  Certdin  products  of  some  districts  made  commerce  vert/  desir- 
(d)lr.  Ihe  mountain  slopes  in  some  parts,  as  in  Attica,  grew 
grapes  and  olives  better  than  grain.  Wine  and  olive  oil  had 
much  value  in  little  space.  Thus  they  were  especially  suited  for 
commerce.  Moreover,  such  mountain  districts  had  a  limited 
grain  supply ;  and,  if  population  was  to  increase,  the  people 
were  driven  to  trade.  Kow,  sailors  and  traders  come  in 
touch  constantly  with  new  manners  and  new  ideas,  and  they 
are  more  likely  to  make  progress  than  a  purely  agricultural 
people.  Exchanging  commodities,  they  are  ready  to  exchange 
ideas  also.  The  seafaritig  Greeks  were  "  always  seeking  some 
new  thing.'' 


•  A  monarchy,  in  the  first  meaning  of  the  word,  is  a  state  ruled  by  one 
man,  a  "  monarch."  .\n  oligurrhy  is  a  state  ruled  by  a  "  few,"  or  by  a  small 
class.  A  dem(HTacy  i.s  a  state  where  the  whole  people  govern.  lu  ancient 
history  the  words  are  used  with  these  meanings.  Sometimes  "  aristocracy" 
is  used  with  inueh  the  same  force  as  oliganhy.  (In  modern  times  the 
word  "  monanhy  "  is  ns«'d  sometimes  of  a  government  like  England,  which 
is  luunarchic  only  in  form,  but  which  really  is  a  democracy.) 


MELCS; 


s'e^^ 


NOLEGAROROS^ 


VTHERA  nANAPHI 


nANAI 


from  Qreenwich        21° 


85] 


INFLUENCE  OF  GEOGRAPHY 


99 


d.  These  early  seekers  found  valuable  neio  things  mthin 
easy  reach.  Fortunately,  this  most  European  of  all  European 
lands  lay  nearest  of  all  Europe  to  the  old  civilizations  of  Asia 
and  Egypt.  Moreover,  it  faced  this  civilized  East  rather  than 
the  barbarous  West.  On  the  other  side,  toward  Italy,  the 
coast  of  Greece  is  clift'  or  marsh,  with  only  three  or  four  good 
harbors.     On  the  east,  however,  the  whole  line  is  broken  by 


ScKNK  IN  THK  \'ai,k  OK  Tkmpk.  —  Fitnu  ii  pliotogriipli.     Cf.  §  IT-'?. 


deep  hays,  from  whose  mouths,  chains  of  inviting  islands 
lead  on  and  on.  In  clear  weather,  the  mariner  may  cross  the 
Aegean  without  losing  sight  of  land. 

e.  Very  important,  too,  was  the  appearance  of  the  landscape. 
A  great  Oriental  state  spread  over  vast  plains  and  was  bounded 
by  terrible  immensities  of  desolate  deserts.  But,  except  in 
Thessaly,  Greece  contained  noplains  of  consequence.  It  was 
a  land  of  intermingled  sea  and  mountain,  with  evenjthing  upon  a 
moderate  scale.     There  were  no  mountains  so  astounding  as  to 


100  THE   fiRKEKS  (§86 

awp.  the  mind.  There  were  no  destructive  earthquakes,  or  tre- 
mendous storms,  or  overwhelming  floods.  Oriental  man  had 
bowed  in  superstitious  dread  before  the  mysteries  of  nature, 
with  little  attempt  to  explain  them.  But  in  Greece,  nature 
was  not  terriI)lo;  and  men  began  early  to  search  into  her 
secrets.  Oriental  submissiou  to  tradition  and  custom  icas  re- 
placed hij  fearle.ss  inquiry  and  originality.  In  like  manner, 
Oriental  despotism  gave  way  to  Gveek  freedom.  Ko  doubt,  too, 
the  moderation  and  variety  of  the  physical  world  had  a  part  in 
producing  the  many-sided  genius  of  the  people  and  their  lively 
but  well-controlled  imagination.  And  the  varied  beauty  of 
hill  and  dale  and  blue,  sunlit  sea,  the  wonderfully  clear,  ex- 
hilarating air,  and  the  soft  splendor  of  the  radiant  sky  helped 
to  give  them  intense  joy  in  mere  living. 

86.  Summary.  —  We  have  noted  five  features  of  Greek  geog- 
raphy: the  many  separate  districts;  the  sea  roads;  the  in- 
ducements to  trade ;  the  vicinity  of  the  open  side  to  Eastern 
civilization;  and  the  moderation,  diversity,  and  beauty  of  nature. 
Each  of  these  five  features  became  a  force  in  history.  The 
Greeks  produced  many  varieties  of  society,  side  by  side,  to  re- 
act upon  one  another.  They  learned  quickly  whatever  the 
older  civilizations  could  teach  them.  They  inquired  fearlessly 
into  all  secrets,  natural  and  supernatural,  instead  of  abasing 
themselves  in  Oriental  awe.  They  had  no  controlling  priest- 
hood, as  the  Egyptians  had;  and  they  never  submitted  long  to 
arbitrary  government,  as  the  great  Asiatic  peoples  did.  Above 
all  other  peoples,  they  developed  a  love  for  harmony  and  pro- 
portion. Moderation  became  their  ideal  virtue,  and  they  used 
the  same  word  for  good  and  heautifid. 

Exercise.  —  Review  the  topic  —  Influence  of  Geography  upon  History 
—  up  to  this  point.     See  Index,  Physical  Geography. 


CHAPTER   Vlir 

HOW  WE   KNOW  ABOUT   "PREHISTORIC"  HELLAS 

87.  The  Homeric  Poems.  —  The  Greeks  were  late  in  learning 
to  use  writing,  and  so  our  knowledge  of  early  Greek  civilization 
is  imperfect.  Until  recently,  what  knowledge  we  had  came 
mainly  from  two  famous  collections  of  early  poems,  the  Iliad 
and  the  Odyssey.  The  later  Greeks  believed  that  these  were 
composed  about  1100  b.c.  by  a  blind  minstrel  ^  named  Homer. 
We  still  call  them  "the  Homeric  poems,"  thougli  scholars  now 
believe  that  each  collection  was  made  up  of  ballads  b}'  many  bards. 
The  poems  were  not  put  into  manuscript  until  about  600  b.c.  ; 
but  they  had  been  handed  down  orally  from  generation  to  gen- 
eration for  centuries.  The  Iliad  describes  part  of  the  ten-year 
siege  of  Troy  (Ilium)  in  Asia.  A  Trojan  prince  had  carried 
away  the  beautiful  Helen,  wife  of  Menelaus,  king  of  Sparta; 
and,  under  the  leadership  of  the  great  king  Agamemnon, 
brother  of  Menelaus,  the  chiefs  had  rallied  from  all  parts  of 
Greece  to  recover  her.  Finally  they  captured  and  burned  the 
city.  The  Odyssey  narrates  the  wanderings  of  Odysseus 
(Ulysses),  one  of  the  Greek  heroes,  in  the  return  from  the  war. 

The  Trojan  war  may  be  fact  or  fiction.^  In  either  case,  the 
pictures  of  society  in  the  poems  must  be  true  to  life.  In  rude 
ages  a  bard  may  invent  stories,  but  not  manners  and  customs.' 

1  la  early  times,  the  poet  did  not  write  his  poems.  He  chanted  them,  to  the 
accompaniment  of  a  harp  or  some  such  instrument,  at  festivals  or  at  the  meals 
of  chieftains.     Such  a  poet  is  called  a  minstrel,  or  bard,  or  harper. 

2  A  well-known  Homeric  scholar  has  just  published  an  ingenious  book  to 
prove  that  there  was  a  real  Trojan  war,  and  that  it  was  fought  by  the  Greeks 
to  secure  control  of  the  Hellespont  —  and  so  of  the  Black  Sea  trade.  Teachers 
will  find  this  latest  contribution  to  the  Homeric  problem  intensely  interesting: 
Walter  Leaf,  Troy  :  A  Study  in  Homeric  Geof/raphij.  INIacmillan. 

3  To-day  a  novelist  inclines  naturally  to  make  the  people  in  his  story  talk 
and  act  like  the  people  in  real  life  around  him.    To  be  sure,  now,  he  may  try, 

101 


102  PRETIISTORIO   HELLAS  [|  88 

Thus  these  Homeric  poems  teach  us  much  about  what  the 
<  J  recks  of  1000  or  1100  u.c.  tliought,  and  how  they  lived. 

88.  Remains  in  the  Soil.  —  Quite  recently  another  source  of 
infornuitiou  has  been  opened  to  us.  Students  of  Greek  history 
strangely  neglected  the  remaintf  buried  in  (he  soil,  long  after  the 
study  of  such  objects  in  the  Orient  had  disclosed  many  wonders ; 
but  in  1870  a.d.  Dr.  Schliemann,  a  German  scholar,  turned  to 
this  kind  of  investigation.  He  hoped  to  prove  the  Homeric 
stories  true.  His  excavations,  and  those  of  others  since,  have 
done  a  more  important  thing.  They  have  added  much  to  our 
knowledge  of  Horner'^  time,  but  they  have  also  opened  up  two 
thousand  years  of  older  culture,  of  ivhich  Homer  and  the  later 
Greeks  never  dreamed. 

89.  Henry  Schliemann's  own  life  was  as  romantic  as  any  story  in 
llouier.  His  father  was  the  pastor  in  a  small  German  village.  The  boy 
grew  up  with  perfect  faith  in  fairies  and  goblins  and  tales  of  magic  treas- 
ure connected  with  tlie  old  history  of  the  place.  His  father  told  him  the 
Homeric  stories,  and  once  showed  him  a  fanciful  picture  of  the  huge 
"  Walls  of  Troy."  The  child  was  deeply  interested.  "When  he  was  told 
that  no  one  now  knew  just  where  Troy  had  stood,  and  that  the  city  had  left 
no  traces,  he  insisted  that  such  walls  must  have  left  remains  that  could  be 
uncovered  by  digging  in  the  ground  ;  and  his  father  playfully  agreed  that 
sometime  Henry  should  find  them.  Later,  the  boy  learned  that  the  great 
scholars  of  his  day  did  not  believe  that  such  a  city  as  Troy  had  ever 
existed.  This  aroused  in  him  a  fierce  resentment ;  and  to  carry  out  his 
childhood  dream  of  finding  the  great  walls  of  Homer's  city  became  the 
passion  of  his  life.  To  do  this  he  must  have  riches.  He  was  very  poor. 
Six  years  he  worked  as  a  grocer's  boy  ;  then,  for  many  years  more  as 
clerk  for  various  larger  firms.  All  this  time  he  studied  zealously,  learning 
many  languages.  This  made  it  possible  for  his  employers  to  send  him  to 
foreign  coimtries,  in  connection  with  their  business.  In  this  way  he 
found  opportunities  to  amass  wealth  for  himself,  and,  at  the  age  of  forty- 
eight,  he  was  ready  to  begin  his  real  work. 

purposely,  to  represent  a  past  age  (historical  novel) ,  or  he  may  try  foolishly  to 
repre.sent  some  class  of  people  about  whom  he  knows  little.  But  in  an  early 
age,  like  that  of  the  Hoinerie  minstrels,  a  poet  cannot  know  any  society  except 
the  simple  one  about  him,  and  he  knows  all  phases  of  that.  If  he  tells  a  story 
at  all,  even  of  a  former  age,  he  makes  his  actors  like  men  of  his  own  time. 


§91]  TROY  AND   MYCENAE  103 

Three  incidents  in  the  explorations  are  treated  in  the  following 
paragraphs. 

90.  Excavations  at  Troy.  —  Dr.  Schlieiuann  began  his  excava- 
tion at  a  little  village  in  "  Troy -land,"'  three  miles  from  the 
shore,  where  vague  tradition  placed  the  scene  of  the  Iliad. 
The  explorations  continued  more  than  twenty  years  and  dis- 
closed the  remains  of  nine  distinct  towns,  one  above  another. 

The  oldest,  on  native  rock,  some  fifty  feet  below  the  present 
surface,  was  a  rude  village  of  the  Stone  Age.  The  second  was 
thought  by  Dr.  Schliemann  to  be  Homer's  Troy.  It  showed 
powerful  walls,  a  citadel  that  had  been  destroyed  by  fire,  and 
a  civilization  marked  by  bronze  weapons  and  gold  ornaments. 
We  know  now  that  this  city  passed  away  more  than  a  thou- 
sand years  before  Homer's  time,  so  that  no  doubt  the  very 
memory  of  its  civilization  had  perished  before  the  real  Troy 
was  built.  Above  it,  came  the  remains  of  three  inferior  settle- 
ments, and  then  —  the  si.vth  layer  from  the  bottom  —  a  much 
larger  and  finer  city,  which  had  perished  in  conflagration  some 
twelve  hundred  years  before  Christ.  Extensive  explorations 
in  the  year  1893  (after  Schliemann's  death)  proved  this  sixth 
city  to  be  the  Troy  of  Homer,  with  remarkable  likeness  to  the 
description  in  the  Iliad. 

Above  this  Homeric  Troy  came  an  old  Greek  city,  a  magnificent  city  of 
the  time  of  Alexander  the  Great,  a  Roman  city,  and,  finally,  the  squalid 
Turkish  village  of  to-day. 

91.  Excavations  at  Mycenae.  —  Homer  places  the  capital  of 
Agamemnon,  leader  of  all  the  Greeks,  in  Argolis  at  "  Mycenae, 
rich  in  gold."  Here,  in  1876,  Schliemann  uncovered  the 
remains  of  an  ancient  cit}',  with  peculiar,  massive  ("  Cyclo- 
pean") walls.  "Within,  were  found  a  curious  group  of  tombs, 
where  lay  in  state  the  embalmed  bodies  of  ancient  kings,  — 

"  in  the  splendor  of  their  crowns  and  breastplates  of  embossed  plate  of 
gold ;  their  swords  studded  with  golden  imagery  ;  their  faces  covered 
strangely  in  golden  masks.  The  very  floor  of  one  tomb  was  thick  with 
gold  dust  —  the  heavy  gilding  from  some  perished  kingly  vestment.  In 
another  was  a  downfall  of  golden  leaves  and  flowers.     And  amid  this  pro- 


104 


PREHISTORIC   HELI> 


[§92 


fusion  of  fino  fraRrufiits  were  rings,  bracelets,  smaller  crowns,  as  for 
rhildnn,  dainty  huUcrflics  for  ornaments,  and  [a  wonderful]  golden  flower 
on  a  silver  stalk." 

One  tomb,  with  three  female  bodies,  contained  870  gold 
oV)jects,  besides  multitudes  of  very  small  ornaments  and  count- 
less gold  beads.  In  another,  hve  bodies  were  "  literally  smoth- 
ered in  jewels."  And,  with  these  ornaments,  there  were  skill- 
fully and  curiously  wrought  weapons  for  the  dead,  with  whet- 
stones to  keep  them  keen,  and  graceful  vases  of  marble  and 
alabaster,  carved  with  delicate  forms,  to  hold  the  funeral  food 


liitoNZK  Dagger  from  Mycenae,  inlaid  with  gold. 


and  wine.     Near  the  entrance  lay  bodies  of  slaves  or  captives 
who  had  been  offered  in  sacrifice. 

92.  These  discoveries  confirmed  much  in  "  Homer."  Like 
"  Troy,"  so  this  ancient  Mycenae  had  perished  in  fire  long 
before  Homer's  day.  But  similar  cities  must  have  survived, 
in  some  parts  of  Hellas,  to  be  visited  by  the  wandering  poet. 
From  remains  of  many  palaces,  it  may  be  seen  now  that  the 
picture  of  Menelaus'  palace  in  the  Odyssey  (vii,  84  ff.)  was 
drawn  from  life,  —  the  friezes  of  glittering  blue  glass,  the 
walls  flashing  with  bronze  and  gleaming  with  plated  gold,  the 
heroes  and  their  guests  feasting  through  the  night,  from  gold 
vessels,  in  halls  lighted  by  torches  held  on  massive  golden 
statues. 

93.  Excavations  in  Crete.  —  Schliemann's  discoveries  amazed 
and  aroused  the  world.  Scores  of  scholars  have  followed  him, 
exploring  the  coasts  of  the  Aegean  at  many  points.  The  most 
wonderful  discoveries  of  all  have  been  made  in  Crete,  —  mainly 
since  the  year  1900.  Old  legends  of  the  Greeks  represented 
that  island  as  one  source  of  their  civilization  and  as  the  home 


93] 


EXCAVATIONS  IN  CRETE 


105 


of  powerful  kings  before  Greek  history  began.  Tliese  legends 
used  to  be  regarded  as  fables:  but  we  know  now  that  they 
were   based   upon    true   tradition.     At   Knossos,  a  palace   of 


TuK  Gaik  of  tue  LiuNs  AT  Mycenae. 

The  huge  stoue  at  the  top  of  the  gate,  supporting  the  lions,  is  15  feet  long  and 
7  feet  thick.  Enemies  could  reach  the  gate  only  by  passing  between  long 
stone  walls  —  from  behind  which  archers  could  shoot  liown  upon  tlieni. 

"King  Minos"  has  been  unearthed,  spreading  over  more  than 
four  acres  of  ground,  with  splendid  throne  rooms,  and  with 
halls  and  corridors,  living  rooms,  and  store  rooms.     In  these 


106 


PREHTSTORTC   HELLAS 


(§93 


last,  there  were  found  multitudes  of  small  clay  tablets  covered 
with  writing,  —  apparently  memoranda  of  the  receipt  of  taxes. 
No  one  can  yet  rciad  this  ancient  Cretan  writing ;  but  the  sculp- 
tures and  friezes  on  the  walls,  the  paintings  on  vases,  and  the 
gold  designs  inlaid  on  sword  blades  teach  us  much  about  this 
forgotten  civilization.     Especially  amazing  are  the  admirable 


Mouth  ok  Pala^k  Skwer  at  Knossos,  with  terracotta  draiu  pipes, — 
showing  method  of  joining  pipes.    From  Baikie. 

bath  rooms  of  the  palace,  with  a  drainage  system  which  has 
been  described  as  "  superior  to  anything  of  the  kind  in  Europe 
until  the  nineteenth  century."  The  pipes  could  be  flushed 
properly,  and  a  man-trap  permitted  proper  inspection  and  re- 
pair. Back  of  the  Queen's  apartments,  stood  a  smaller  room 
with  a  baby's  bath.  Like  Troy  and  ^lycenae,  the  remains  show 
that  Knossos  was  burned  and  ravaged  —  about  1500  b.c. 


CHAPTER   IX 

THE   FIRST   CIVILIZATION   OF   HELLAS 

94.    Antiquity  of  "  Cretan  Culture."  —  Not  long  ago  it  was  the 
habit  of  scholars  to  call  the  Greeks  a  "young"  peo])le  rconi- 


Head  of  a  Bull,  from  a  Knossos  relief. 

pared  with  Oriental  nations),  and  to  wonder  how  they  could 
have  risen  to  so  high  a  civilization  almost  at  a  bound.  Some- 
times the  blossoming  of  Greek  culture  was  compared  to  the 
fabled  birth  of  Athene,  the  Greek  goddess  of  wisdom,  who 
sprang  to  life,  fully  armed,  from  the  forehead  of  her  father 
Zeus.  But  now  we  have  learned  that  "obscure  milleniums 
preceded  the  sudden  bloom." 

We  have  traced  the  sources  of  our  knoirlcdge  of  the  early 
periods  in  the  order  of  their  discovery,  l^ut  this  is  not  the 
order  in  which  the  civilization  developed.     Troy  and  Mycenae 

107 


108 


PRKinSTOIilC    HELLAS 


[§95 


were  older  than  "  Homer  "  —  wlio  sang  of  a  golden  past  —  and 
Cretan  culture  runs  back  two  thousand  years  before  Mycenae 
was  built.  Still,  the  civilization  of  Mycenae  was  merely  a 
late  branch  of  a  widespreading  tree  which  had  its  roots  and 
its  highest  development  in  (Jrete.  Schliemann's  ''  Second 
City  "  at  Troy  belonged  to  an  early  stage  of  it,  and  his  "  Sixth 
City  "  to  a  late  stage. 

About  1900  A.D.,  scholars  first  began  to  recognize  this  pre- 
Homeric  culture.     For  a  few  years  they  called  it  Mycenaean. 


"Vaphio  Cups":  3i  inches  high;  8  ounces  each.  Found  at  Vaphio,  in  th* 
Peloponnesus,  in  1889  a.d.,  and  dating  back  at  least  to  1800  or  2000  B.C. 
Probably  Cretan  in  origin.  Very  delicate  and  yet  vigorous  goldsmith 
work.    See  the  .scroll  on  the  page  opposite. 


This  name  is  still  used  sometimes  for  the  last  period  of  it,  on 
the.  mainland.  But  it  is  best  to  use  the  name  Cretan  civiliza- 
tion for  the  whole  culture  preceding  the  Homeric  age.  We  are 
now  to  trace  the  rise  of  that  culture,  and  its  character. 

95.  Native  to  the  Aegean  Regions.  —  Explorations  prove  that 
this  early  civilization  was  not  confined  to  Crete  and  Troy  and 
Mycenae.  It  spread  along  the  coasts  and  islands  of  the  Medi- 
terranean, in  patches,  from  Cyprus  to  Sardinia.  It  teas  very 
nearly  an  "Aegean  civilization.'^  It  was  the  work  of  the  slim, 
short,  dark-skinned  men  of  southern  Europe,  between  3500  and 
1200  B.C.     This  culture  was  native,  not  borrowed.     Steady  prog- 


95] 


CRETAN   CIVILIZATION 


109 


no 


PRKTIISTORIC   HIOLLAS 


(§96 


ret<t(  appears  from  rude  stone  tools  and  crude  carvings,  thr(jugh 
many  stages,  up  to  magnificent  bronze  work  and  highly  devel- 
oped art.  There  are  no  sudden  leaps,  or  breaks  in  the  chain  of 
development,  su(di  as  might  suggest  the  wholesale  introduction 
of  a  foreign  civilization. 

'I'he  oldest  settlement  that  Schliemann  unearthed  on  the  bare  rock 
uiKlcilyiiiii  the  site  of  Troy,  we  liavc  noted,  was  a  village  of  the  Stone  Age. 
By  3600  or  4000  h.c,  people  were  living  in  such  vil- 
lages (made  up  of  round  huts)  all  about  the  Aegean 
Sea.  Their  pottery  was  made  by  hand,  not  with  a 
wheel ;  but  the  decoration  shows  skill  and  love  of 
beauty.  Everywhere,  the  better  sort  of  knives  and 
arrow-beads  were  made  from  a  peculiar  dark  hard 
stone  (obsidian),  which,  for  the.se  regions,  is  found 
in  any  considerable  quantity  only  in  the  island  of 
Melos.  There  must  have  been  no  little  trade,  then, 
during  this  Stone  Age,  to  scatter  this  material  so 
widely. 

Before  2500  b.c,  Crete,  at  least,  extended  this 
trade  as  far  as  Egypt  and  Syria.  Egyptian  remains 
of  that  period  are  common  among  the  Cretan  ruins. 
Crete  stretches  its  long  body  across  the  mouth  of  the 
Aegean  and  forms  the  natural  stepping  stone  from 
Egypt  to  Europe.  Very  possibly,  this  fact  made  it 
the  leader  in  developing  primitive  Aegean  civilization 
to  higher  levels.  The  use  of  bronze  may  have  come 
from  Egypt.  Surely,  the  Cretan  traders  imported 
from  the  older  civilizations  much  that  was  more 
valuable  than  articles  of  commerce.  But  they  did 
not  merely  imitate  and  copy  :  they  made  foreign 
inventions  and  ideas  their  oicn,  by  adapting  them  to  their  own  life  and  by 
improving  upon  them. 

96.  The  Best  Stages.  —  At  all  events,  by  2500  b.c,  Crete  had 
advanced  far  in  the  bronze  age  of  culture;  and  for  the  next  thou- 
sand years  her  civilization  (in  material  things,  at  least)  was  quite 
equal  to  that  of  Egypt.  The  old  hand-made  pottery  gave  way  to 
admirable  work  on  the  potter's  wheel ;  and  the  vase  paintings, 
of  birds  and  beasts  and  plant  and  sea  life,  are  vastly  more  life- 
like and  graceful  than  any  that  Egyptian  art  can  show.     The 


Vase  from  Knossos 
(about  2200  b.c), 
with  characteristic 
sea-life  ornament. 
From  Baikie. 


§96] 


CRETAN  CIVILIZATION 


111 


0f^ 


^^  _ 


^■&v 


II 


walls  of  houses  were  decorated  with  a  delicate  "  egg-shell "  porce- 
lain in  artistic  designs.  Gold  inlay  work,  for  the  decoration 
of  weapons,  had  reached  great  perfection.  A  system  of  syl- 
labic writing  had  been  develo])ed.  seemingly  more  advanced 
than  the  Egyptian.  Un- 
happily scholars  have  not 
yet  found  a  key  to  it ;  but 
some  believe  that  it  may 
have  been  the  common  an- 
cestor of  the  Phoenician 
and  the  Greek  alphabets.^ 
The  palace  at  Knossos 
(§  94)  was  built  about  2200 
B.C.,  and  rebuilt  and  im- 
])roved  about  1800.  Its 
monarch  must  have  ruled 
all  the  island,  and  prob- 
ably (as  the  Greek  legends 
taught)  over  wide  regions 
of  the  sea.  The  city  had 
no  walls  to  shut  out  an 
enemy :  Crete  relied  upon 
her  sea  power  to  ward  off 
invaders.  We  may  think 
of  the  Cretan  lawgiver,  Minos,  seated  on  his  throne  at  Knossos, 
ruling  over  the  surrounding  seas,  at  about  the  time  Abraham 
left  Ur  to  found  the  Hebrew  race,  or  a  little  before  the  law- 
giver, Hammurabi,  established  the  Old  Babylonian  Empire,  or 


Cretan  Writing.    (Plainly,  some  of  these 
characters  are  numerals.     Others  have  a 
strong  likeness  to  certain  Greek  letters, 
'  especially  in  the  oldest  Greek  writing.) 


1  One  old  Roman  writer  (Diodorus  Siculus)  has  preserved  the  interesting 
fact  that  the  Cretans  themselves  in  his  day  claimed  to  have  heen  the  inventors 
of  the  alphabet.  He  says:  "Some  pretend  that  the  Syrians  were  the  inven- 
tors of  letters,  and  that  the  Phoenicians  learned  from  them  and  brought  the 
art  of  writing  to  Greece.  .  .  .  But  the  Cretans  say  that  the  first  invention 
came  from  Crete,  and  that  the  Phoenicians  only  changed  the  form  of  the  let- 
ters and  made  the  knowledge  of  them  more  general  among  the  peoples." 
Modern  Cretans  had  forgotten  tins  claim  for  many  centuries,  but  recent  dis- 
coveries go  far  to  prove  it  true. 


112 


PREHISTORIC   HELLAS 


[§96 


as  a  contemporary  of  some  of  the  Ix^neticent  pharaohs  of  the 
Middle  Kingdom  in  Egypt. 

From  tlie  palace  frescoes,  Dr.  Arthur  .J.  Evans  (the  English 
pioneer  in  Cretan  excavation)  (h'scribes  tlie  brilliant  life  of  the 

lords   and    ladies   of   the 
court :  — 


Sometimes  the  dependants 
of  the  prince  march  into  the 
palace  in  stately  procession, 
bringing  gifts.  Sometimes  the 
court  is  filled  with  gayly 
adorned  dames  and  curled 
gentlemen  [Cretan  nobles  wore 
the  hair  in  three  long  curls], 
.standing,  sitting,  flirting,  ges- 
ticulating [after  the  fa.shion 
of  southern  Europeans  in  con- 
versation to-day] .  We  see  the 
ladies  .  .  .  tryhig  to  "preserve 
their  complexion"'  with  veils. 
And  says  another  of  the  dis- 
coverers,—  "The  women  who 
dance  and  converse  on  Knos- 
sian  walls  have  a  self-assurance 
and  sparkle  that  modern  belles 
might  env}'."  Frequently, 
too,  the  court  is  pictured  watch- 
ing a  troop  of  bull  trainers 
tame  wild  bulls.i 


So-called  Throne  of  Minus  in  the  palace 
at  Kuossos.  Says  Baikie  {Sea  Kings  of 
(,'rete,  72) :  "  No  more  ancient  throne  ex- 
ists iu  Europe,  or  probably  in  the  world, 
and  none  whose  associations  are  anything 
like  so  full  of  interest." 


The  chief  article  of  male  dress  was  a  lineu  cloth  hanging 
from  the  waist  or  drawn  into  short  trousers  (like  the  dress  of 
men  on  the  Egyptian  monuments).  To  this,  except  in  war  or 
hunting,  the  noble  sometimes  added  a  short,  sleeveless  mantle, 
fastened  over  one  shoidder  with  a  jeweled  pin;  and  a  belt, 

^  The  bull  was  a  favorite  subject  for  Cretan  art.  See  some  illustrations  in 
these  pages.  Compare  also  the  later  story  of  the  Athenian  hero  Theseus  and 
the  Cretan  Minotaur  (bull),  in  any  collection  of  Greek  legends,  as  in  Haw- 
thorne's Tanglewood  Tales. 


96] 


CRETAN   CIVILIZATION 


113 


drawn  tight  about  the  waist,  always  carried  his  dagger,  inlaid 
with  gold  figures.  Women's  dress  was  elaborate,  with  '^  care- 
ful fitting,  fine  sewing,  and  exquisite  embroidery."  The  skirts 
were  bell-shaped  —  like  a  modern  fashion  of  fifty  years  ago  — 
and  flounced  with  ruffles ;  and  the  bodice  was  close-fitting,  low- 
necked,  and  short-sleeved,  —  much  more  like  female  dress  to-day 
than  the  later  Greek  and  Eonian  robes  were.     ^Fen  and  women 


Cooking  Utensils,  found  in  one  tomb  at  Knossos. 

alike  wore  gold  bracelets  and  rings,  and  women  added  long  coils 
of  beaded  necklaces. 

Each  home  wove  its  own  cloth,  as  we  learn  from  the  loom- 
weights  in  every  house.  Each  home,  too,  had  its  stone  mortars 
for  grinding  the  daily  supply  of  meal.  Kitchen  utensils  were 
varied  and  numerous.  They  include  perforated  skimmers  and 
strainers,  and  charcoal  carriers,  and  many  other  devices 
strangely  modern  in  shape.  Most  cooking  was  done  over  an 
open  fire  of  sticks  —  though  sometimes  there  was  a  sort  of 
recess  in  a  hearth,  over  which  a  kettle  stood.  When  the  de- 
stroying foe  came  upon  Knossos,  one  carpenter  left  his  kit  of 
tools  hidden  under  a  stone  slab;   and   among  these  we    find 


114 


PREHISTORIC    HELLAS 


(§97 


^'*11Hmn)innmiiJliIJJXJMr'''™* 


^^^^?mp^^ 


"saws,  liamiiiprs,  adz(!,  cliisols  lieavy  and  lif,'lit,  awls,  nails,  files, 
and  axoM.''  Tliey  arc  of  bronze,  of  course,  Imt  in  shape  they 
are  so  like  our  own  that  it  seems  probable  that  this  handicraft 
passed  down  its  skill  wiMioiit   a  l>reak  from  the  earliest  Euro- 

])(;an  civilization  to  the 
])resent.  One  huge  cross- 
cut saw,  like  oar  lumber- 
man's, was  found  in  a 
mountain  town,  —  used 
probably  to  cut  the  great 
trees  there  into  columns 
for  the  palaces. 

97.  The  dark  side  of  this 
splendid,  civilization  has 
to  do  with  its  government 
and  the  organization  of 
society.  Here,  Oriental 
features  prevailed.  The 
monarch  was  absolute; 
and  a  few  nobles  were  the 
only  others  who  found 
life  easy  and  pleasant. 
The  masses  were  far  more 
abject  and  helpless  than 
in  later  Greek  history. 
The  direct  cause  of  the 
destruction  of  Cretan  cul- 
ture was  a  series  of  barbarian  invasions ;  but  the  remains 
show  that  the  best  stages  of  art  had  already  passed  away. 
Probably  the  invasions  were  so  completely  successful  only  be- 
cause of  internal  decay,  such  as  usually  comes  to  despotic  states 
after  a  period  of  magnificence.  Some  excavators  think  they 
find  evidence  that  the  invaders  were  assisted  by  an  uprising  of 
the  oppressed  masses.  In  any  event,  fortunately,  many  of  the 
better  features  of  this  early  Aegean  civilization  were  adopted 
by  the  conquerors  and  preserved  for  time  to  come. 


CiiKTAX  \'ask  of  later  pt'iiod.  showing  a 
tendency  to  use  "  conventionalized  "  orna- 
ment. Critics  believe  that  such  vases  in- 
dicate a  period  of  decay  in  Cretan  art. 


§97]  CRETAN  CIVILIZATION  115 

FoK  Further  Reading.  —  Specially  suggested :  Davis'  Readings, 
Vol.  I,  No.  32,  gives  au  interesting  extract  from  an  account  of  Cretan 
remains  by' one  of  the  discoverers.  Bury's  History  of  Greece,  7-11,  on 
Cretan  culture;  11-33,  on  rnnains  near  Mycenae  (half  these  pages  are 
given  to  illustrations)  ;  (35-69,  on  the  Homeric  poeins.  The  student  may 
best  omit  or  disregard  Professor  Bury"s  frequent  discussions  as  to  whether 
Cretans  or  Trojans  were  "Greeks.'"  The  important  thing  about  each 
new  wave  of  invasion  is  not  its  rare,  but  its  kind  of  culture,  and  where 
that  culture  came  from. 

Additional,  for  students  who  wish  wider  reading :  Hawes,  Crete  the 
Fore-runner  of  Greece  ;  or  Baikie,  Sea  Kings  of  Crete.     (Aispendix.) 


CFIAPTER   X 

THE   HOMERIC    AGE 

ORIGIN 

98.  The  Achaeans.  —  Hetween  1500  and  1200  b.c.  a  great 
chaiij^e  took  place  in  Greece.  The  civilization  pictured  by 
Homer  differs  greatly  from  tlie  earlier  one.  It  was  not  a 
development  from  the  earlier :  it  was  a  separate  culture,  from  a 
different  source.  The  Mycenaeans  and  Cretans  buried  their 
dead,  worshiped  ancestors,  used  no  iron,  and  lived  frugally, 
mainly  on  fish  and  vegetable  diet.  Homer's  Greeks  burn  their 
dead,  adore  a  sun  god,  use  iron  swords,  and  feast  all  night 
mightily  on  whole  roast  oxen.  So,  too,  in  dress,  manners,  and 
personal  appearance,  as  far  as  Ave  can  tell,  the  two  are  widely 
different.  The  early  Greeks,  as  their  pictures  show,  were 
short,  dark,  black-eyed,  like  the  modern  Greeks  and  like  all 
the  other  aborigines  of  southern  Europe.  But  Homer  de- 
scribes his  Greeks,  or  at  least  his  chieftains,  as  tall,  fair, 
yellow-haired,  and  blue-eyed.  In  many  ways,  too,  their  civi- 
lization was  ruder  and  more  primitive  than  the  one  it  replaced. 

This  scijond  civilization  of  Hellas  is  called  Achaean,  —  the 
name  which  "  Homer  "  gives  to  the  Greeks  of  his  time.  These 
Achaeans  were  part  of  a  vigorous  race  dwelling  in  central 
Europe.  They  were  semibarbarians  in  that  home ;  hut  some 
fortunate  chance  had  taught  them  to  use  iron.  About  1500  B.C. 
bands  of  these  faii'-haired,  blue-eyed,  ox-eating  warriors,  drawn 
by  the  splendor  and  riches  of  the  south,  broke  into  Hellas,  as 
barbarians  of  the  north  so  many  times  since  have  broken  into 
southern  Europe.  These  mighty-limbed  strangers,  armed  with 
long   iron  swords,  established   themselves   among  the   short, 

116 


§99]  ACHAEAN   CONQUESTS         .  117 

dark,  broiize-vveaponed  natives,  dwelt  in  their  cities,  became 
their  chiefs,  married  their  women,  and  possessed  the  land. 

99.  Nature  of  their  Invasion.  —  The  occupation  of  the  land  by 
the  invaders  was  a  slow  process,  involving  unrecorded  misery, 
generation  after  generation,  for  the  gentler,  peace-loving  na- 
tives. An  Eg\'ptiau  inscription  of  the  period  declafes  that 
"  the  islands  were  restless  and  disturbed,"  —  and  indeed  the 
Achaean  rovers  reached  even  Egypt  in  their  raids  (§  31). 
During  most  of  the  period,  the  newcomers  merely  filtered  into 
Hellas,  band  by  band,  seizing  a  little  island,  or  a.  valley,  at  a 
time.  Occasionally,  larger  forces  warred  long  and  desperately 
about  some  stronghold.  Knossos,  without  defensive  walls,  fell 
early  before  a  fleet  of  sea-rovers.  But  in  walled  cities,  like 
Troy  and  M3'cenae,  the  old  civilization  lived  on  for  three  cen- 
turies. Much  of  the  time,  no  doubt,  there  was  peace  and 
intercourse  between  the  Achaeans  and  such  cities ;  but  finally 
the  invaders  mustered  in  force  enough  to  master  even  these. 
Homer's  ten-year  Trojan  War  may  be  based  upon  one  of  these 
closing  struggles. 

The  fair-haired  Achaeans  imposed  their  language  upon  the 
older  natives  (as  conquerors  commonly  do);  but,  in  course  of 
time,  their  blood  was  absorbed  into  that  of  the  more  numerous 
conquered  people  —  as  has  happened  to  all  northern  invaders 
into  southern  lands,  before  and  siuce.  The  physical  character- 
istics of  Homer's  Achaeans  left  no  more  trace  in  the  later 
Greeks,  than  the  tall,  yellow-haired  Goths  who  conquered 
Spain  and  Italy  in  the  fifth  century  after  Christ  Jiave  left  in 
those  countries. 

The  Achaean  and  Cretan  cultures  blended  more  equalhi  than  the 
two  races  did,  —  though  not  till  the  splendor  and  most  of  the  art 
of  the  older  civilization  had  been  destroyed.  The  change  of 
language  explains  in  part  the  loss  of  the  art  of  writing,  — 
which  ])robal)ly  had  been  the  possession  of  only  a  small  class 
of  scribes,  in  any  case.  But  the  common  people,  we  may  be 
sure,  clung  tenaciously  to  their  old  customs  and  habits  of  life, 
and  especially  to  their  religion.     When  next  we  see  the  Greek 


118  ll();MKIi'S   (iliEECE  — THE   ACHAEANS  [§100 

civilization   clearly,  the   old   worshij)  of   ancestors,   of  whicli 
the  lioiiicric  poems  contain  no  mention,  liad  reappeared  and 
mingled  with  the  newer  worship  of  the  Achaean  gods. 
Some  features  of  the  Achaean  wje  are  described  below. 

tup:  tkibal  organization 

100.  The  Clan.  —  In  early  times  the  smallest  unit  in  Greek 
society  was  not  a  family  like  ours,  but  a  clan  (or  gens).  Each 
clan  was  a  group  of  kindred,  an  enlarged  kind  of  family.  Some 
clans  contained  perhaps  a  score  of  members ;  others  contained 
many  score. 

The  nearest  descendant  of  the  forefather  of  the  clan,  count- 
ing from  oldest  son  to  oldest  son,  was  the  dan  elder,  or  "  king." 
Kinship  and  worship  were  the  two  ties  which  held  a  clan  to- 
gether. These  two  bonds  were  really  one,  for  the  dan  religion 
ivas  a  ivorship  of  dan  ancestors.  If  provided  with  pleasing  meals 
at  proper  times  and  invoked  with  magic  formulas  (so  the  belief 
ran),  the  ghosts  of  the  ancient  clan  elders  would  continue  to 
aid  their  children.  The  food  was  actually  meant  for  the  ghost. 
Milk  and  wine  were  poured  into  a  hollow  in  the  ground,  while 
the  clan  elder  spoke  sacred  formulas  inviting  the  dead  to  eat.^ 

This  worship  was  secret.  The  clan  tomb  was  the  altar,  and 
the  clan  elder  was  the  only  lawful  priest.  For  a  stranger  even 
to  see  the  worship  was  to  defile  it ;  for  him  to  learn  the  sacred 
formulas  of  the  clan  worship  was  to  secure  power  over  the  gods.- 
It  followed  that  marriage  became  a  ''  religious  "  act.  The  woman 
renounced  her  own  gods,  and  was  accepted  by  her  husband's 
gods  into  their  clan.     Her  father,  of  course,  or  some  male  rela- 

1  Travelers  describe  similar  practices  among  primitive  peoples  to-day.  A 
Papuan  chief  prays:  "Compassionate  Father!  Here  is  food  for  you.  Eat 
it,  and  be  kind  to  us!  " 

2  Primitive  races  think  of  words  as  in  some  strange  way  related  to  the 
things  they  stand  for  (as  the  spirit  to  the  bodj-).  This  is  one  reason  for  belief 
in  "charms."  Those  who  knew  the  right  words  could  "charm"  the  gods  to 
do  their  will.  The  Romans,  in  the  ilays  of  their  power,  always  kept  the  real 
name  of  their  chief  god  a  secret,  lest  some  foe  might  compel  or  induce  him 
to  surrender  the  city. 


§  103]  THE   TRIBAL  CITY  119 

tive,  renounced  for  her,  and  gave  her  to  the  bridegroom  (the 
origin  of  **  giving  in  marriage  "  to-day).  After  that,  she  and 
her  future  children  were  in  law  and  in  religion  no  longer  "  re- 
lated" to  her  father  and  his  clan.  Legal  relationship,  and 
inheritance  of  property,  came  through  males  only. 

101.  Later  Family  Worship.  —  In  like  manner  in  later  times,  as  the 
families  of  the  clan  became  distinct  units,  each  came  to  have  its  sepa- 
rate family  worship.  The  Hearth  was  the  family  altar.  Near  it  were 
grouped  the  Penates,  or  images  of  household  gods  who  watched  over  the 
family.  The  father  was  the  priest.  Before  each  meal,  he  poured  out  on 
the  Hearth  the  libation,  or  food-offering,  to  the  family  gods  and  asked 
their  blessing.  The  family  tomb  was  near  the  house,  '■  so  that  the  sons."' 
says  Euripides  (a  later  Greek  poet:  jj  221).  •■  in  entering  and  leaving 
their  dwelling,  might  always  meet  their  fathers  and  invoke  them." 

102.  The  Tribe.  —  Long  before  history  began,  clan.s  united 
into  larger  units.  In  barbarous  society  the  highest  unit  is  the 
tribe,  which  is  a  group  of  clans  living  near  together  and  believ- 
ing in  a  common  ancestor.  In  Greece  the  clan  elder  of  the 
leading  clan  was  the  T<inrj  of  the  tribe  and  its  j^riest. 

103.  The  Tribal  City.  —  Originally  a  tribe  dwelt  in  several 
clan  villages  in  the  valleys  around  sojue  convenient  hill.  On 
the  hilltop  was  the  place  of  common  worship.  A  ring  wall,  at 
a  convenient  part  of  the  slope,  easily  turned  this  sacred  place 
into  a  citadel.  In  hilly  Greece  many  of  these  citadels  grew  up 
near  together;  and  so,  very  early,  groups  of  tribes  combined 
further.  Perhaps  one  of  a  group  would  conquer  the  others  and 
compel  them  to  tear  down  their  separate  citadels  and  to  move 
their  temples  to  its  center.  T7iis  made  a  city.  The  chief  of 
the  leading  tribe  then  became  the  priest-king  of  the  city. 

Sometimes,  of  course,  a  tribe  grew  into  the  city  stage  with- 
out absorbing  other  tribes ;  but,  in  general,  as  clans  federated 
into  tribes,  so  tribes  federated  into  cities,  either  peaceably  or 
through  war.  The  later  Athenians  had  a  tradition  that  in  very 
earl}'  times  the  hero  Theseus  founded  their  city  by  bringing 
together  four  tribes  living  in  Attica. 


120  HOMER'S  (iFiP:j:(:E  — THE   ACHAEANS  (§104 

104.  The  City  the  Political  Unit.  —  If  the  cities  could  have  combined 
into  larger  units,  Greece  might  have  become  a  ^'  nation- state,''  like  modern 
England  or  France.  But  the  Greeks,  in  the  time  of  their  glory,  never 
got  beyond  a  city-state.  To  them  the  same  word  meant  "  city  "  and 
"state."  A  union  of  cities,  by  which  any  of  them  gave  up  its  complete 
independence,  was  repugnant  to  Greek  feeling.  One  city  might  hold 
other  cities  in  subjection  ;  but  it  never  admitted  their  people  to  any  kind  of 
citizenship.^  Nor  did  the  subject  cities  dream  of  asking  such  a  thing. 
What  they  wanted,  and  would  never  cease  to  strive  for,  was  to  recover 
their  separate  independence.     To  each  Greek,  his  city  was  his  country. 

It  followed,  through  nearly  all  Greek  history,  that  the  political-  rela- 
tions of  one  city  with  another  five  miles  away  were  foreign  relations, 
as  much  as  its  dealings  with  the  king  of  Persia.  Wars,  therefore,  were 
constant  and  cruel.  Greek  life  was  concentrated  in  small  centers.  This  made 
it  vivid  and  intense  ;  but  the  division  of  Greek  resources  between  so  many  hostile 
centers  made  that  life  brief. 

GOVERNMENT   OF   THE   EARLY   CITY-STATE 

105.  The  King.  —  The  city  had  three  political  elements  — 
king,  council  of  chiefs,  and  popular  assembly.  In  these  we 
raa}^  see  the  germs  of  later  monarchic,  aristocratic,  and  demo- 
cratic governments.     (For  these  terms,  see  §  85,  note.) 

The  king  was  leader  in  war,  judge  in  peace,  and  priest  at  all 
times.  His  power  was  much  limited  by  custom  and  by  the 
two  other  political  orders. 

106.  A  council  of  chiefs  aided  the  king,  —  and  checked  him. 
These  chiefs  were  originally  the  clan  elders  and  the  members 
of  the  royal  family.  Socially  they  were  the  king's  equals ;  and 
in  government  he  could  not  do  anything  in  defiance  of  their 
wish.  If  a  ruler  died  without  a  grown-up  son,  the  council 
could  elect  a  king,  although  they  chose  usually  from  the  royal 
family. 

1  Can  the  student  see  a  oounection  between  this  fact  and  the  "  exclusive  " 
character  of  clan  and  tribal  and  city-worship,  as  described  above  ? 

2  "  Political"  means  "relating  to  government."  The  word  must  be  used 
frequently  in  history.  In  other  relations,  as  in  trade  and  religion  and  cul- 
ture, the  Greek  cities  did  not  think  of  one  another  as  foreigners,  to  any  such 
degree  as  in  political  matters. 


§  108]  GOVERNMENT  121 

107.  The  Assembly.  —  The  common  freemen  came  together 
for  worship  ami  fuv  games ;  and  sometimes  the  king  called 
them  together,  to  listen  to  plans  that  had  been  adopted  by  him 
and  the  chiefs.  Then  the  freemen  shouted  approval  or  muttered 
disapproval.  They  could  not  start  new  movements.  There 
were  no  regular  meetings  and  few  spokesmen,  and  the  general 
reverence  for  the  chiefs  made  it  a  daring  deed  for  a  common 
man  to  brave  them.  If  the  chiefs  and  king  agreed,  it  was  easy 
for  them  to  get  their  way  with  the  Assembly. 

However,  even  in  war,  when  the  authority  of  the  nobles  was 
greatest,  the  Assembly  had  to  be  persuaded:  it  could  not  he 
ordered.  Homer  shows  that  sometimes  a  common  man  ven- 
tured to  oppose  the  "  kings." 

Thus,  in  one  Assembly  before  Troy,  the  Greeks  break  away  to  seize 
their  ships  and  return  home.  Odysseus  hurries  among  them,  and  by  per- 
suasion and  threats  forces  them  back  to  the  Assembly,  until  only  Thersites 
bawls  on,  —  "Thersites,  uncontrolled  of  speech,  whose  mind  was  full  of 
words  lohereinith  to  strive  against  the  chiefs.  Hateful  was  he  to  AchilU-s 
above  all,  and  to  Odysseus,  for  them  he  icas  wont  to  revile.  But  now  with 
shrill  shout  he  poured  forth  his  uphraidings  even  upon  goodly  Agamem- 
non.'''' Odysseus,  it  is  true,  rebukes  him  sternly  and  smites  him  into 
silence,  while  the  crowd  laughs.  ''  Homer  "  sang  to  please  the  chieftains, 
his  patrons,  —  and  so  he  represents  Thersites  as  a  cripple,  ugly  and  un- 
popular ;  but  there  must  have  been  such  popular  opposition  to  the  chiefs, 
now  and  then,  or  the  minstrel  would  not  have  mentioned  such  an  incident 
at  all.  Says  a  modern  scholar,  —  A  chieftain  who  had  been  thwarted, 
perhaps?,  by  some  real  Thersites  during  the  day,  "  would  over  his  evening 
cups  enjoy  the  poet's  travesty,  and  long  for  the  good  old  times  when 
[Odysseus]  could  put  down  impertinent  criticism  by  the  stroke  of 
his  knotty  scepter."  ^ 

SOCIETY    AND    INDUSTRY 

108.  Society  was  simple.  The  Homeric  poems  attribute 
wealth  and  luxury  to  a  few  places  (where  probably  some  frag- 
ments  of   the  Cretan   civilization    survived^ ;    but   these   are 

^  Davis'  Rcadiiif/s,  \'o\.  I,  No.  33,  reproduces  the  best  Homeric  aocount  of 
au  "  Assembly  "  in  war  time.     It  eontains  also  the  Thersites  story  complete. 


122  HOMER'S  GREECE  — THE   AOHAEANS  (§109 

jilaiiily  exceptions  to  tlie  fj(;noral  rule.  Wlien  the  son  of 
Odysseus  leaves  his  native  Ithaca  and  visits  Menelaus,  he  is 
astounded  by  the  splendor  of  the  jialace,  with  its  "gleam  as  of 
sun  and  moon,"  and  whispers  to  his  companion  :  — • 

"  Mark  tluiflasliiiif^of  Ijroiize  through  the  echoint;  halls,  and  the  flashing 
of  gold  and  of  amber  and  of  silver  and  of  ivory.  Such  like,  methinks, 
is  the  court  of  Olympian  Zeus.  .  .  .  Wonder  comes  over  me  as  I  look."  i 

But  mighty  Odysseus  had  built  his  palace  with  his  own 
hands.  It  has  been  well  called  —  from  the  poet's  description 
—  "a  rude  farmhouse,  where  swine  wallow  in  the  court."  And 
the  one  petty  island  in  which  Odysseus  was  head-king  held 
scores  of  yet  poorer  ''  kings."  So,  too,  when  Odysseus  is  ship- 
wrecked on  an  im})ortant  island,  he  finds  the  daughter  of  the 
chief  king — the  princess  Nausicaa — doing  a  washing,  with 
her  band  of  maidens  (treading  out  the  dirt  by  trampling  the 
clothes  with  their  bare  feet  in  the  water  of  a  running  brook). 
Just  before,  the  "  queen  "  was  pictured,  busy  in  gathering  to- 
gether the  palace  linen  for  this  event.  SkcJi  descriptions  are 
the  typical  ones  in  the  poems. 

109.  Manners  were  harsh.  In  the  Trojan  War,  the  Greeks 
left  the  bodies  of  the  slain  enemy  unburied,  to  be  half  devoured 
by  packs  of  savage  dogs  that  hung  about  the  camp  for  such 
morsels.  The  common  boast  was  to  have  given  a  foe's  body  to 
the  dogs.2  When  the  noble  Trojan  hero.  Hector,  falls,  the 
Greek  kings  gather  about  the  dead  body,  "  and  no  one  came  who 
did  not  add  his  wound.'''  The  chiefs  fought  in  bronze  and  iron 
armor,  usually  in  chariots.  The  common  free  men  followed  on 
foot,  without  armor  or  effective  weapons,  and  seem  to  have 
counted  for  little  in  war.  Ordinary  prisoners  became  slaves  as 
a  matter  of  course.     But  when  the  chiefs  were  taken,  they  were 

1  Read  the  story  in  the  Ochjssey,  or  in  Vol.  I,  No.  37,  of  Davis'  Readings. 

^Tlie  Iliad  opens  with  the  story  of  a  pestilence,  which  almosf  drove  the 
Greeks  from  Troy.  I'he  poet  ascribes  it  to  the  anger  of  the  Sun-god,  ApoUo, 
who  sliot  his  arrows  upon  the  camp.  Little  wonder  that  the  sun's  rays,  in  a 
warm  climate,  should  produce  pestilence,  under  such  conditions! 


§  110]  MANNERS  AND   INDUSTRIES  123 

murdered  in  cold  blood,  unless  they  could  tempt  the  victor  to 
spare  them  for  ransom.  Female  captives,  even  princesses,  ex- 
pected no  better  fate  than  slavery. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  are  hints  of  natural  and  happy 
family  life,  of  joyous  festivals,  and  games  and  dances,  and  of 
wholesome,  contented  work.^ 
"^  110.  Occupations-  —  The  mass  of  the  people  loere  small  farmers, 
tliough  their  houses  were  grouped  in  villages.^  Even  the  kings 
tilled  their  farms,  in  part  at  least,  with  their  own  hands. 
Odysseus  can  drive  the  oxen  at  the  plow  and  "  cut  a  clean  fur- 
row " ;  .and  when  the  long  days  begin  he  can  mow  all  day  with 
the  crooked  scythe,  "  pushing  clear  until  late  eventide.'' 
Slaves  were  /e?r,  except  about  the  great  chiefs.  There  they 
served  as  household  servants  and  as  farm  hands ;  and  they 
seem  to  have  been  treated  kindly.'  There  had  appeared,  how- 
ever, a  class  of  miserable  landless  freemen,  who  hired  them- 
selves to  farmers.  When  the  ghost  of  Achilles  (the  invincible 
Greek  chieftain)  wishes  to  name  to  Odysseus  the  most  unhappy 
lot  among  mortals,  he  selects  that  of  the  hired  servant  (§  112). 

Artisans  and  smiths  were  found  among  the  retainers  of  the 
great  chiefs.  They  were  highly  honored,  but  their  skill  was 
far  inferior  to  that  of  the  Cretan  age.  Some  shields  and 
inlaid  weapons  of  that  earlier  period  had  passed  into  the  hands 
of  the  Achaeans ;  and  these  were  always  spoken  of  as  the  work 
of  Hephaestus,  the  god  of  fire  and  of  metal  work. 

A  separate  class  of  traders  had  not  arisen.  The  chiefs,  in  the 
intervals  of  farm  labor,  turned  to  trading  voyages  now  and 
then,  and  did  not  hesitate  to  increase  their  profits  by  piracy. 
It  was  no  offense  to  ask  a  stranger  whether  he  came  as  a  pirate 
or  for  peaceful  trade.     (Odyssey,  iii,  60-70.) 

1  Davis'  Readings,  Vol.  I,  No.  35. 

2  For  farm  life,  see  an  extract  in  Davis'  Rradinrjs,  Vol.  I,  No.  39. 

'  When  Odysseus  returned  from  his  twenty  years  of  war  and  wandering, 
he  made  himself  known  first  to  a  faitliful  swineherd  and  one  other  servant  — 
hf)th  slaves;  and  "They  threw  their  arms  round  wise  Odysseus  and  passion- 
ately kissed  his  face  and  neck.  So  likewise  did  Odysseus  kiss  their  heads  and 
hands." 


124  lIOMKIi'S    (;!{KEC;K  — THE   ACFIAKAXS  (§111 

111.  Religious  Ideas. —  It  lias  been  si.id  above  tliat  tlie 
Achaeans  l)r()u^'lit  in  a  new  worsliip  of  tli(!  forces  of  nature. 
Their  lively  fancy  person l/ii'd  t/ifsc  in  lln'  forms  and  c/ki meters 
of  men  ((ud  iromen  —  built  in  a  somewhat  inore  majestic  mold 
than  human  men.  Thi^  {^neat  gods  lived  on  cloud-capped 
Blount  Olympus,  and  passed  their  days  in  feasting  and  laugh- 
ter and  other  ])leasures.  When  the  chief  god,  Zeus,  slept, 
things  sometimes  went  awry,  for  the  other  godsjjlotted  against 
his  plans.  His  wife  Hera  was  exceedingly  jealous  —  for  which 
slie  had  much  reason  —  and  the  two  had  many  a  family 
wrangle.  Some  of  the  gods  went  down  to  aid  their  favorites 
in  war,  and  were  wounded  by  human  weapons. 

The  twelve  great  Olympian  deities  were  as  follows  (the  Latin  names 
are  given  in  parentheses)  :  — 

Zeus  (.Jupiter),  the  supreme  god;  god  of  the  sky  ;  "father  of  gods 
and  men."' 

Poseidon  (Neptune),  god  of  the  sea. 

Apollo^  the  sun  god;  god  of  wisdom,  poetry,  prophecy,  and  medicine. 

Ares  (Mars),  god  of  war. 

Hephaestus  (Vulcan),  god  of  fire  —  the  lame  smith. 

Hermes  (Mercury),  god  of  the  wind;  messenger;  god  of  cunning,  of 
thieves,  and  of  merchants. 

Hera  (Juno),  sister  and  wife  of  Zeus;  queen  of  the  sky. 

Athene  (Minerva),  goddess  of  wisdom  ;  female  counterpart  of  Apollo. 

Artemis  (Diana),  goddess  of  the  moon,  of  maidens,  and  of  hunting. 

Aphrodite  (Venus),  goddess  of  love  and  beauty. 

Demeter  (Ceres),  the  earth  godde.ss  —  controlling  fertility. 

Hestia  (Vesta),  the  deity  of  the  home  :  goddess  of  the  hearth  fire. 

The  Greeks  thought  also  of  all  the  world  about  them  as 
peopled  by  a  multitude  of  lesser  local  gods  and  demigods  — 
spirits  of  spring  and  wood  and  river  and  hill  —  all  of  whom, 
too,  they  personified  as  glorious  3ouths  or  maidens.  Surely  to 
give  the  gods  beautiful  human  forms,  rather  than  the  revolting 
bodies  of  lower  animals  and  reptiles  (>^  24)  was  an  advance, 
even  though  it  fell  far  short  of  the  noble  religious  ideas  of  the 
Hebrews  and  Persians.  And  in  a  multitude  of  legends  the 
Greek  poets  gave  to  these  gods  a  delightful  charm,  which  has 


§  112J  RELIGION   AND   MORALS  125 

made  their  stories  a  lasting  possession  of  the  world's  culture,'  — 
and  which  indeed  kept  this  worship  alive  among  the  later 
Greeks  long  after  the  primitive  ideas  in  that  worship  were 
really  outgrown.  Even  in  the  early  period,  noble  religious 
thoughts  sometimes  appear.  In  the  Odyssey  the  poet  exclaims: 
"  Verily,  the  blessed  gods  love  not  froward  deeds,  but  they 
reverence  justice  and  the  righteous  acts  of  men." 

112.  Ideas  of  a  Future  Life.  —  Tlie  Cheeks  believed  in  ^place 
of  terrible  punishnuMit  (Tartarus)  for  a  few  great  offenders 
against  (he  gods,  and  in  an  Elysium  of  supreme  pleasure  for  a 
very  few  others  particularly  favored  by  the  gods.  But  for  the 
mass  of  men  the  future  life  was  to  be  "a  washed-out  copy  of 
the  brilliant  life  on  earth"  —  its  pleasures  and  pains  both 
shadowy.  Thus  Odysseus  tells  how  he  met  Achilles  in  the 
home  of  the  dead  :  — 

"  And  he  knew  me  straightway,  ichen  It c  had  drunk  the  dark  hluod  [of 
a  sacrifice  to  the  dead]  ;  yea,  and  he  wept  aloud,  and  shed  big  tears  as  he 
stretched  forth  his  hands  in  his  longing  to  reach  me.  But  it  might  not  be, 
for  he  had  now  no  steadfast  strength  nor  poicer  at  all  in  moving,  .such  as 
was  aforetime  in  his  supple  limbs.  .  .  .  But  lo,  other  spirits  of  the  dead 
that  be  departed  .stood  sorrowing,  and  each  one  asked  of  those  that  were 
dear  to  tliem."  —  Odyssetj,  xi,  ;]90  ff. 

And  in  their  discourse,  Achilles  exclaims  sorrowfully:  — 

"  Nay,  speak  not  comfortably  to  nie  of  death,  O  great  Odysseus. 
Bather  loould  I  live  on  ground  as  the  hir(ding  of  another,  even  with  a 
lack-land  mnn  wlio  had  no  great  livelihood,  than  hear  sway  amonf/  all  the 
dead.^'' 

For  Further  Reading.  —  Specially  suggested:  Davis'  Readitigs, 
Vol.  I,  Nos.  3.3-38  (most  of  these  already  referred  to  in  footnotes). 
Additional :  Bury,  pp.  (59-79. 


iThe  legends  of  heroes  and  demigods,  like  Hercules,  Theseus,  and  Jason,  are 
retailed  for  young  people  charmingly  by  Hawthorne,  Gayley,  Ouerber,  and 
Kingsley.  The  stories  have  no  historical  value  that  could  bo  made  clear  in  a 
book  like  this ;  but  every  boy  and  gir)  should  know  them. 


CHAPTER    Xr 

FROM   THE  ACHAEANS    TO   THE   PERSIAN    WARS 
'  (1000-500   BC.) 

A    NEW   AGE 

113.  The  Dorian  Conquest.  —  The  Achaean  con([uests  closed 
about  1200  B.C.  For  two  centuries  Hellas  was  troubled  only 
by  the  usual  petty  wars  between  small  states.  But,  about 
1000  B.C.,  the  revival  of  culture  was  checked  again  for  a  hundred 
years  by  new  destructive  invasions  from  the  north. 

The  new  barbarians  called  themselves  Dorians.  They  seem 
to  have  been  closely  allied  in  language  to  the  Achaeans;  and 
they  were  probably  merely  a  rear  guard  which  had  stopped 
for  two  hundred  years  somewhere  in  northern  Hellas.  They 
conquered  because  they  had  adopted  a  new  and  better  military 
oi'ganization.  The  Achaeans  fought  still  in  Homeric  fashion, 
—  the  chiefs  in  chariots,  and  their  followers  as  an  unwieldy, 
ill-armed  mob.  The  Dorians  introduced  the  use  of  heavy- 
armed  infantry,  with  long  spears,  in  regular  array  and  close 
ranks. 

By  900  B.C.,  the  movements  of  the  tribes  had  ceased.  The 
conquering  Dorians  had  settled  down,  mainly  in  the  Pelopon- 
nesus. This  district  had  been  the  center  of  the  Mycenaean 
and  Achaean  glory,  but  it  now  lost  its  leadership  in  culture. 
When  civilization  took  a  new  start  in  Hellas,  soon  after  900, 
it  was  from  new  centers —  in  Attica  and  in  Asia  Minor. 

114.  Phoenician  Influence.  —  Tlie  civilization  which  the  Achae- 
ans and  Dorians  had  destroyed  at  Mycenae  and  Crete  ivas 
restored  to  them  in  part  by  the  Phoenicians.  After  the  overthrow 
of  Cretan  powier,  Phoenicia  for  many  centuries  was  the  leading 
sea-power  of  the  Mediterranean  (1500-600  b.c).     Especially 

126 


§  115]  DORIAN  GREECE  127 

among  the  islands  and  coasts  of  the  Aegean,  did  her  traders 
barter  with  the  inhabitants  (much  as  English  traders  did  two 
hundred  years  ago  with  American  Indians),  tempting  them 
with  strange  wares  of  small  value,  and  counting  it  best  gain  of 
all  if  they  could  lure  curious  maidens  on  board  their  black 
ships  for  distant  slave  markets.  In  return,  however,  they  made 
many  an  unintentional  payment.  Language  shows  that  the 
Phoenicians  gave  to  the  Greeks  the  names  (and  so,  no  doubt, 
the  use)  of  linen,  myrrh,  cinnamon,  frankincense,  soap,  lyres, 
cosmetics,  and  writing  tablets.  The  forgotten  art  of  writing 
they  introduced  again,  —  this  time  with  a  true  alphabet.  But 
the  lively  Hellenes  were  not  slavish  imitators.  Whatever  the 
strangers  brought  them,  they  iui])roved  and  made  their  own. 

115.  The  Gap  in  our  Knowledge.  —  The  Dorians  had  no 
Homer,  as  the  Achaeans  had,  nor  did  they  leave  magnifi- 
cent monuments,  as  the  JNIycenaeans  did.  Accordingly,  after 
Homer,  there  is  a  blank  in  our  knowledge  for  nearly  five  cen- 
turies. Great  changes,  however,  took  place  during  these 
obscure  centuries ;  and  in  a  rough  way  we  can  see  what  they 
were,  by  comparing  Homeric  Greece  ivith  the  historic  Greece  that 
is  revealed  ivhen  the  curtain  rises  axjain. 

This  "rising  of  the  curtain  "  took  place  about  650  B.C.  By 
that  time  the  Greeks  had  begun  to  use  the  alphabet  freely. 
The  next  150  years,  however,  merely  continued  movements 
which  were  already  well  under  way ;  and  the  whole  period, 
from  the  Dorian  conquest  to  the  year  500,  can  be  treated  as  a 
unit  (§§  116  ff.). 

To  that  half  thousand  years  belonged  six  great  movements,  (i)  The 
Hellenes  awoke  to  a  feeling  that  they  were  one  people  as  compared  with 
other  peoples.  (2)  They  extended  Hellenic  culture  widely  by  coloniza- 
tion. (3)  The  system  of  government  everywhere  underwent  great 
change.  (4)  Sparta  became  a  great  military  power,  whose  leadership 
in  war  the  other  Greek  states  were  willing  to  recognize.  (5)  Athens 
became  a  democracy.  (6)  A  great  intellectual  development  appeared, 
manifested  in  architecture,  painting,  sculpture,  poetry,  and  philosophy. 

Each  of  the  six  movements  will  be  described  briefly. 


128  HELLAS  FROM    1000  TO  500  B.C.  [§116 

I.     UNITY    OF    FKHLIXG 

116.  Greeks  came  to  think  of  all  Hellenes  as  one  race,  compared 
with  other  pi^oples — in  spite  of  many  .subdivisions  among 
themselve.s.  Tlie  JUad  does  not  make  it  cdear  wliether  Homer 
looked  >ipou  tlie  Trojans  as  Greeks  or  not.  Apparently  he 
cared  little  about  the  question.  Five  hundred  years  later  such 
a  question  would  have  been  a  first  consideration  to  every 
Greek.  The  Greeks  had  not  become  one  nation  :  that  is,  they 
had  not  come  under  the  same  government.  But  they  had 
come  to  believe  in  a  kinship  with  each  other,  to  take  pride  in 
their  common  civilization,  and  to  set  themselves  apart  from 
the  rest  of  the  world.  The  three  chief  forces  which  had 
created  this  oneness  of  feeling  were  language,  literature,  and 
the  Olympian  religion,  with  its  games  and  oracles. 

a.  The  Greeks  understood  each  other's  dialects,  while  the 
men  of  other  speech  about  them  they  called  "  Barbarians,"  or 
babblers  {Bar'-bar-oi).  This  likeiiess  of  language  made  it  possible 
for  all  Greeks  to  2>ossess  the  same  literature.  The  poems  of 
Homer  were  sung  and  recited  in  every  village  for  centuries ; 
and  the  universal  pride  in  Homer,  and  in  the  glories  of  the 
later  literature,  had  much  to  do  in  binding  the  Greeks  into 
one  people. 

b.  Tlie  poets  invented  a  system  of  relationship.  The  first 
inhabitant  of  Hellas,  they  said,  was  a  certain  Hellen,  who  had 
three  sons,  Aeolus,  Dorus,  and  Xuthus.  Xuthus  became  the 
father  of  Achaeus  and  Ion.  Aeolus,  Dorus,  Achaeus,  and  Ion 
were  the  ancestors  of  all  Hellenes,  —  in  the  four  great  divi- 
sions, AeoUans,  Dorians,  Achaeans,  and  lonians.  This  system 
of  fables  made  it  easier  for  the  Greeks  to  believe  themselves  con- 
nected by  blood. 

c.  Three  special  features  of  the  Olympian  religion  helped  to 
bind  Greeks  together,  —  the  Olympic  Games,  the  Delphic  Oracle, 
and  the  various  Amphictyonies  (§§  117,  118,  119). 

117.  The  Olympic  Games.  —  To  the  great  festivals  of  some  of 
the  gods,  men  flocked  from   all  Hellas.     This  was  especially 


§117] 


ONENESS  OF  CULTURE 


129 


true  of  the  Olympic  games.  These  were  celebrated  each  fourth 
year  at  Olympia,  in  Elis,  in  honor  of  Zeus.  The  contests  con- 
sisted of  foot  races,  chariot  races,  wrestling,  and  boxing.  The 
victors  were  felt  to  have  won  the  highest  honor  open  to  any 
Greek.  They  received  merely  an  olive  wreath  at  Olympia; 
but  at  their  homes  they  were  honored  with  inscriptions  and 


Ruins  of  the  Entrance  to  the  St.u^ium  {athletic  field)  at  Olympia. 


statues.  Only  Greeks  could  take  part  in  the  contests,  and  there 
was  a  strong  feeling  that  all  wars  between  Greek  states  should 
be  suspended  during  the  month  of  the  festival. 

To  these  games  came  merchants,  to  secure  the  best  market 
for  rare  wares.  Heralds  proclaimed  treaties  there  —  as  the  best 
way  to  make  them  known  through  all  Hellas.  Poets,  orators, 
and  artists  gathered  there ;  and  gradually  the  intellectual  con- 
tests and  exhibitions  became  the  most  important  feature  of 
the  meeting.     The  oration  or  poem  or  statue  which  was  praised 


130  HP:LL        from    lOOO  to   500   B.C.  [§  118 

by  tho  crowds  at  ()lyin])ia  liad  received  the  approval  of  the 
most  select  and  intelligent  judges  that  could  be  brought 
together  anywhere  in  the  world. 

These  intellectual  contests,  however,  did  not  become  part  of  the 
sacred  games.  Nor  was  any  prize  given  to  the  winner.  The  four-year 
l)eriods  between  the  games  were  called  Olympiads.  These  period.s  finally 
became  the  Greek  units  in  counting  time  :  all  events  were  dated  from  what 
was  believed  to  be  the  first  recorded  Olympiad,  beginning  in  770  B.C.  An 
iidmirnble  account  of  the  Olympic  Games  is  given  in  Davis'  Readings, 
\o\.  I,  No.  44.  But  the  student  will  enjoy  even  more  the  vivid  picture  in 
Dr.  Davis'  novel,  A  Victor  of  Salamis. 

118.  The  Delphic  Oracle.  —  Apollo,  the  sun  god,  was  also  the 
god  of  prophecy.  One  of  his  chief  temples  was  at  Delphi,  far 
up  the  slopes  of  Mount  Parnassus,  amid  wild  and  rugged 
scenery.  From  a  fissure  in  the  ground,  within  the  temple, 
volcanic  gases  poured  forth.  A  priestess  would,  when  desired, 
inhale  the  gas  tnitil  she  passed  into  a  trance  (or  seemed  to  do 
so) ;  and,  while  in  this  state,  she  was  supposed  to  see  into  the 
future,  by  the  aid  of  the  god.  Tlie  ach-ice  of  this  "oracle^'  was 
sofK/Jit  by  men  and  by  governments  throughout  all  Hellas.  (See 
further  in  Davis'  Readings,  Vol.  I,  Nos.  41—43.) 

119.  Amphictyonies.  —  There  was  an  ancient  league  of  Greek 
tribes  to  i)rotect  the  temple  at  Delphi.  This  was  known  as 
the  Amphictyonic  League  (league  of  "dwellers-round-about"). 
Smaller  amphictyonies,  for  the  protection  of  other  temples, 
were  common  in  Greece.  In  early  Greek  history,  they  were 
the  only  hint  of  a  movement  toward  a  union  of  states.  All 
these  leagues,  it  is  true,  were  strictly  religious  in  purpose,  and 
not  at  all  like  j^olitical  unions.  The  Delphic  Amphictyony, 
however,  did  in  a  way  represent  the  whole  Greek  people.  All 
important  states  sent  delegates  to  its  "  Council,"  which  held 
regular  meetings;  and  every  division  of  the  Greek  race  felt 
that  it  had  a  share  in  the  oracle  and  in  its  League. 

120.  Dorians  and  lonians. — At  the  cost  of  some  digression,  this  is 
the  best  place  to  note  that  through  all  later  Greek  history  (after  600B.C.) 
the  two  leading  races  were  the  Dorians  and  the  lonians.     (See  §  1 16  b,  above  ) 


§  121]  EXPANSION  AND   COLONIZATION  131 

By  600  B.C.  the  Dorians  had  their  chief  strength  in  the  Peloponnesus, 
while  the  lonians  held  Attica  and  most  of  the  islands  of  the  Aegean. 
The  lonians  seem  to  have  been  descendants  of  the  original  inhabitants 
of  Greece,  mixed  with  tribes  of  the  Achaean  invasion. 

Athens  was  the  leading  city  of  the  lonians.  The  Athenians  were  sea- 
farers and  traders ;  they  preferred  a  democratic  government ;  they  were 
open  to  new  ideas  —  '•  always  seeking  some  new  thing  "  ;  and  they  were 
interested  in  art  and  literature.  Sparta  was  the  leading  city  of  the 
Dorians.  The  Spartans  were  a  military  settlement  of  conquerors,  in  a 
fertile  valley,  organized  for  defense  and  ruling  over  slave  tillers  of  the 
soil.  They  were  warriors,  not  traders ;  aristocratic,  not  democratic ; 
conservative,  not  progressive  ;  practical,  not  artistic . 

Some  writers  used  to  explain  the  differences  between  Athens  and  Sparta 
on  the  ground  of  race,  and  teach  that  all  lonians  were  naturally  demo- 
cratic and  progressive,  while  all  Dorians  were  naturally  aristocratic  and 
conservative.  But  it  has  been  pointed  out  that  Dorian  colonies  in  Italy 
and  Sicily  (like  Syracuse)  resembled  Athens  more  than  they  did  Sparta. 
Their  physical  surroumlinfjs  were  more  lih'  those  of  Athens,  also.  To-day 
scholars  look  with  suspicion  upon  all  attempts  to  explain  differences  in 
civilization  on  the  ground  of  inborn  I'ace  tendencies.  For  Sparta  and 
Athens,  the  explanation  certainly  is  found  mainly  in  the  difference  in 
physical  surroundings. 

II.     EXPANSION   BY   COLONIZATION 

121.  First  Period.  —  While  Greek  civilization  was  becoming 
more  united  in  feeling,  it  was  becoming  more  scattered  in 
space.  The  old  tribes  which  the  Dorians  drove  out  of  the 
Peloponnesus  jostled  other  tribes  into  motion  all  over  Greece, 
and  some  of  the  fugitives  carried  the  seeds  of  Greek  culture 
more  widely  than  before  along  the  coasts  of  the  Aegean. 

This  period  of  colonization  lasted  about  a  century,  from 
1000  to  900  B.C.  Its  most  important  fact  was  the  Hellenizing 
of  the  western  coast  of  Asia  Minor.  Some  of  this  district  had 
been  Greek  before  ;  but  now  large  reinforcements  arrived  from 
the  main  Greek  peninsula,  and  all  non-Hellenic  tribes  were 
subdued  or  driven  out.  Large  bodies  of  Ionian  refugees  from 
the  Peloponnesus  had  sought  refuge  in  Ionian  Attica.  But 
Attica  could  not  support  them  all  ;   and  soon  they  began  to 


132  HKJ.LAS    FllO.Vr    1000   TO   500   B.C.  (§  122 

cross  tlie  sea  to  Asia  iMiiior.  There  tliey  established  them- 
selves in  twelve  ^M-eat  cities,  of  wliich  the  most  important  were 
Miletus  and  EpheHux.  The  whole  middle  district  of  that  coast 
took  the  iKuiie  hmln,  and  was  united  in  an  amphictyony. 

122.  Second  Period.  —  A  century  later,  there  began  a  .still 
wider  colonizing  mcwement,  which  went  on  for  two  hundred 
years  (800-()00  ux.),  doubling  the  area  of  Hellas  and  spread- 
ing it  far  outside  the  old  Aegean  home.  The  cause  this  time 
was  not  war.  Greek  cities  were  growing  anxious  to  seize  the 
Mediterranean  commerce  from  the  Phoenicians.  The  new  colo- 
nies loere  founded  largely  for  tradinrj  atations. 

Thus  Miletus  sent  colony  after  colony  to  the  north  shore  of 
the  Black  /Sea,  to  control  the  corn  trade  there.  Sixty  Greek 
towns  fringed  that  sea  and  its  straits.  The  one  city  of  Chalcis, 
in  Kuboea,  planted  thirty-two  colonies  on  the  Tliracian  coast, 
to  secure  the  gold  and  silver  mines  of  that  region.  On  the 
west,  Sicily  became  almost  wholly  Greek,  and  southern  Italy 
took  the  proud  name  of  Magna  Graeria  (Great  Greece).  In- 
deed, settlements  were  sown  from  end  to  end  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean. Among  the  more  important  of  the  colonies  were 
/Syracuse  in  Sicily,  Tarentuni,  Sybaris,  and  Croton  in  Italy, 
Corcyra  near  the  mouth  of  the  Adriatic,  Massilia  (Marseilles) 
in  Gaul,  Olynthus  in  Thrace,  Cyrene  in  Africa,  Byzantium  at 
the  Black  Sea's  mouth,  and  Nauci'atis  in  Egypt  (§  32).^ 

123.  Method  of  Founding  Colonies. — Many  motives  besides 
the  commercial  assisted  this  movement.  Sometimes  a  city 
found  its  population  growing  too  fast  for  its  grain  supply. 
Often  there  was  danger  of  class  struggles,  so  that  it  seemed 
well  to  get  rid  of  the  more  adventurous  of  the  poorer  citizens. 
Perhaps  some  daring  youth  of  a  noble  family  longed  for  a  more 
active  life  than  he  found  at  home,  and  was  glad  to  become  the 
head  of  a  new  settlement  on  a  distant  frontier. 

In  any  case  the  oracle  at  Delphi  was  first  consulted.  If  the 
reply  was  favorable,  announcements  were  made  and  volunteers 


1  Map  .study  :  on  outline  maps,  or  on  the  board,  locate  the  districts  and  cities 
mentioned  in  §§  121  and  122. 


»       lx>nr*«ndi'  Wt«»      0 


§124] 


POLITICAL   REVOLUTIONS 


133 


were  gathered  for  the  'expedition.  The  mother  city  always 
gave  the  sacred  tire  for  the  new  city  hearth,  and  appointed  the 
"founder."  This  "founder"  established  the  new  settlement 
with  religious  rites  and  distributed  the  inhabitants,  who 
thronged  in  from  all  sides,  into  artificial  tribes  and  clans. 


KiiNS  OF  THK  Athlktic  Field  AT  DELPHI.     Secoud  only  to  the  Olympic 
Games,  aud  similar  to  them,  was  the  Festival  at  Delphi  in  honor  of  Apollo. 

The  colonists  ceased  to  he  citizens  of  their  old  home,  and  the 
new  city  enjoyed  complete  independence.  The  colony  recognized 
a  religious  connection  with  its  "  metropolis "  (mother  city), 
and  of  course  there  were  often  strong  bonds  of  friendship 
between  the  two;  but  there  was  no  political  union  between 
them  — until  Athens  invented  a  new  form  of  colony  which  will 
be  described  later  (§  148). 


IIL     CHANGES    IN   GOVERNMENT 

124.    The  Kings  overthrown  by  Oligarchies.  —  Between  1000 
aud  oOO  B.C.  the  "  kings  "  disappeared  from  every  Greek  city 


134  HKF.LAS    I<M{()M    KMM)   TO   r,(K)    U.C.  [§125 

('xrc|it  S]);ii't;i  and  A r^^os,  and  even  in  tTiosc  citit-s  tlioy  lo.sl,  most, 
of  ilit'ir  old  powt!!'.  The  (dianj^t'  was  tlu^  work  of  tlic  nobles; 
and  that  class  divided  tlie  royal  power  among  themselves. 
Monarchies  gave  way  to  oligarchies. 

A  Homeric  king,  we  have  seen,  had  three  kinds  of  duties  :  he 
was  ivar  chief,  Judye,  and  priest.  The  ofticf;  of  war  cliief  (^ould 
least  safely  be  left  to  the  ac(;ident  of  birth.  Accordingly  the 
nobles  took  away  this  part  of  the  king's  duties  first,  turning 
it  over  to  officers  whom  they  elected  from  among  themselves. 
Then,  as  judicial  work  increased  with  the  growth  of  city  life, 
special  judges  were  chosen  to  take  over  that  part  of  the  king's 
work.  The  priestly  dignity  was  connected  most  closely  with 
family  descent  (§§  101,  102):  therefore  it  was  left  longest  a 
matter  of  inheritance. 

This,  then,  was  the  general  order  of  the  changes  by  which 
the  rule  of  one  man  became  the  rule  of  "  the  feiv.""  The  process 
was  gradual ;  the  means  and  occasion  varied.  A  contest  be- 
tween two  rivals  for  the  throne,  or  the  dying  out  of  a  royal 
line,  or  a  weak  king  or  a  minor,  —  any  of  these  conditions  made 
it  easy  for  the  nobles  to  encroach  upon  the  royal  power. 

125.  Oligarchies  overthrown  by  Tyrants.  —  Originally,  the  aris- 
tocratic element  consisted  of  the  council  of  clan  elders  (§  lOG), 
but  with  time  it  had  become  modified  in  many  ways.  Some- 
times the  families  of  a  few  great  chiefs  had  come  to  over- 
shadow the  rest.  In  other  places,  groups  of  conquering  families 
ruled  the  descendants  of  the  conquered.  Sometimes,  perhaps, 
wealth  helped  to  draw^  the  line  between  "  the  few  "  and  "  the 
many."  At  all  events,  there  teas  i)t  all  Greek  cities  a  shar})  line 
between  two  classes,  —  one  calling  itself  "  the  few,"  "  the  good," 
"  the  noble  " ;  and  another  called  by  these  "  the  many,"  "  the 
bad,"  "  the  base." 

"  The  few "  had  succeeded  the  kings.  "  The  many"  were 
oppressed  and  misgoverned,  and  they  began  to  clamor  for  relief. 
They  were  too  igjiorant  as  yet  to  maintain  themselves  against 
the  intelligent  and  better  united  "  few " ;  but  the  way  was 
prepared  for  them  by  the  "  tyrants  ""  (§  126). 


§  126]  POLITICAL   RF.VOLUTIONS  135 

Why  does  it  matter  who  controls  the  government  ?  The  student 
should  begin  to  think  upon  this  matter.  Government  is  not  a  matter  of 
dignity  mainly,  but  a  very  practical  matter.  It  touches  our  daily  life 
very  closely.  In  one  of  our  States,  for  many  years  past,  a  certain  railroad 
has  controlled  the  legislature.  Therefore  it  has  escaped  taxation,  for  the 
most  part,  upon  its  immense  wealth  ;  and  every  poor  man  in  the  State 
has  had  to  pay  unduly  high  taxes  in  consequence,  leaving  less  money  for 
his  children's  shoes  and  books.  The  same  railroad  has  been  permitted  to 
charge  exorbitant  rates  on  freight.  Every  farmer  has  received  too  little 
for  his  wheat ;  and  every  citizen  has  paid  too  much  for  flour.  So  for 
forty  years,  in  our  own  day  and  country,  big  business  interests  have 
striven  constantly  to  own  congress  and  legislatures  and  judges  and  gov- 
ernors, so  as  to  get  or  keep  monopolies  or  tariff  advantages  or  other 
special  privileges,  by  which  they  have  heaped  up  riches  —  which,  in  the 
long  run,  have  been  drawn  from  the  homes  of  the  working  people.  In 
early  society,  class  distinctions  are  drawn  more  sharply,  and  class  rule  was 
even  more  tyrannical.  "  The  few  "  are  usually  wiser  than  "  the  many  "  ; 
but  all  history  proves  that  class  rule  by  "  the  good  "  is  sure  to  be  a  selfish, 
bad  rule. 

126.  "  Tyrants "  pave  the  Way  for  Democracies.  —  Before 
oOO  ij.c.  every  city  in  the  Greek  peninsula,  except  Sparta,  had 
its  tyrant,  or  had  had  one.  In  the  outlying  parts  of  Hellas, 
tyrants  were  comniun  through  later  history  also,  but  by  the 
year  500  they  had  disappeared  from  the  main  peninsula;  and 
so  the  two  cpiifuricsfrom  700  to  500  R.r.  are  somethnes  called  the 
"  A(je  of  Tyrants.'^ 

In  Greek  historij  a  tj/rant  is  not  necessarily  a  had  or  cruel  ruler: 
he  /.s-  simjily  a  man  who  by  force  seizes  supreme  power.  But 
arbitrary  rule  was  hateful  to  the  Greeks,  and  the  murder  of  a 
tyrant  seemed  to  them  a  good  act.  Sometimes,  too,  the 
selfishness  and  cruelty  of  such  rulers  justified  the  detestation 
which  still  clings  to  the  name.  But  at  the  worst  the  tyrants 
seem  to  have  been  a  necessary  evil,  to  break  down  the  greater 
evil  of  the  selfish  oligarchies.  Many  tyrants  were  generous, 
far-sighted  rulers,  building  public  works,  developing  trade, 
jjatroni/ing  art  and  literature;  but  their  main  value  in  history 
was  this  :  they  paced  the  way  for  democracy . 


136  HELLAS  FROM    1000  TO   500  B.C.  [§  127 

Sometimes  a  tyraiii  had  hccn  an  ambitious  n<)])\e  ;  sometimes 
a  man  of  the  people,  by  l)irth.  In  eitlicr  case,  he  usually  won 
his  mastery  by  coming  forward,  in  some  crisis  of  civil  strife, 
as  the  champion  of  "  the  many."  When  he  had  made  himself 
tyrant  of  his  city,  he  surrounded  himself  with  paid  soldiers; 
but  he  sought  also  to  keep  the  favor  of  the  masses,  who  had 
h('li)ed  him  to  the  throne.  The  nobles  he  could  not  conciliate. 
These  he  burdened  with  taxes,  oppressed,  exiled,  and  murdered. 
The  story  goes  that  Periander,  tyrant  of  Corinth,  sent  to  the 
tyrant  of  Miletus  to  ask  his  advice  in  government.  The  Mile- 
sian took  the  messenger  through  a  grain  field,  striking  off  the 
finest  and  tallest  ears  as  they  walked,  and  sent  him  back  with- 
out other  answer. 

Thus  when  the  tyrants  themselves  were  overthrown,  democ- 
racy had  a  chance.  The  nobles  were  weaker  than  before,  and 
the  people  had  gained  confidence.  In  the  Ionian  cities,  the 
next  step  was  usually  a  democratic  government.  In  Dorian 
parts  of  Greece,  more  commonly  there  followed  an  aristocracy. 
But  this  was  always  much  broader,  and  less  objectionable, 
than  the  older  oligarchies.  The  tyrants  had  done  their  work 
effectively.^ 

This,  then,  was  the  general  order  of  change  :  the  kings  give  way  to 
oligarchies ;  the  oligarchies  are  overthrown  by  tyrants  ;  and  the  tyrants, 
unintentionally,  prepare  the  way  for  the  rule  of  the  people.  We  shall 
now  trace  the  changes,  with  more  detail,  in  the  two  leading  cities  of 
Hellas,  —  Sparta  and  Athens.  The  first  had  less  change  than  any  other 
city.     The  second  led  the  movement. 

IV.     RISE    OF   SPARTA   TO    MILITARY    HEADSHIP 

127.  Changes  in  Early  Sparta.  —  The  invading  Dorians  founded 
many  petty  states  in  the  Peloponnesus.  For  a  time  one  of  the 
weakest  of  these  was  Sparta.     Her  territory  covered  only  a 

iExerci.sk.  —  Contrast  the  "tyrants"  witli  the  Homeric  kings,  —  as  to 
origin  of  power ;  as  to  limitation  by  custom  and  public  opinion ;  as  to  security 
in  their  positions. 


§  128]  SPARTA'S   HEADSHIP  137 

few  square  miles.  It  was  shut  otf  from  the  sea,  and  it  was 
surrounded  by  powerful  neighbors. 

The  later  Spartans  attributed  their  rise  from  these  condi- 
tions to  the  reforms  of  a  certain  Lycurgus.  Certainly,  about 
the  year  900,  whether  the  reformer's  name  was  Lycurgus  or 
not,  the  Sjjartans  adopted  peculiar  institutions  which  made 
them  a  niarked  people.  The  new  laws  and  customs  disciplined 
and  hardened  them ;  and  they  soon  entered  upon  a  brilliant 
career  of  conquest.  Before  700,  they  had  subdued  all  Laconia; 
before  650,  Messenia  also ;  while  the  other  states  of  the  Pelo- 
ponnesus, except  hostile  Argos,  had  become  their  allies. 

128.  Government.  —  Sparta  had  tivo  kings.  An  old  legend 
explained  this  peculiar  arrangement  as  due  to  the  birth  of  twin 
princes.  At  all  events  in  this  city  the  royal  power  was  weakened 
by  division,  and  so  the  nobles  were  less  tempted  to  abolish  it. 

There  was  also  a  Senate  of  thirty  elders.  In  practice,  this 
body  was  the  most  important  part  of  the  government.  The 
kings  held  two  of  the  seats,  and  the  people  elected  the  twenty- 
eight  other  senators. 

No  one  under  sixty  years  of  age  could  be  chosen.  The  candidates  were 
led  through  the  Assembly  in  turn,  and  as  each  passed,  the  people  shouted. 
Judges,  shut  up  in  a  room  from  which  they  could  not  see  the  candidates, 
listened  to  the  shouts  and  gave  the  vacancy  to  the  one  whose  appearance 
had  called  out  the  loudest  welcome.  Aristotle,  a  later  Greek  writer,  calls 
this  method  "childish";  but  it  has  an  interesting  relation  to  our  viva- 
voce,  voting,  where  a  chairman  decides,  in  the  first  instance,  by  noise. 

A  2>opidar  Assembly  of  all  Spartans  chose  senators  and  other 
officers,  and  decided  important  matters  laid  before  it  —  subject 
to  a  veto  by  the  Senate.  The  Assembly  had  no  right  to  intro- 
duce new  measures,  and  the  common  Spartan  could  not  even 
take  part  in  the  debate. 

About  725  B.C.  new  magistrates,  called  Ephors,  became  the 
chief  rulers.  Five  Ephors  were  chosen  each  year  by  the  Assem- 
bly, and  any  Spartan  might  be  elected.  The  Ephors  called  the 
Assembly,  presided  over  it,  and  acted  as  judges  in  all  important 
matters.     One  or  two  of  them  accompanied  the  king  in  war, 


138  IIKLI.AS    I-'KOM     lOOO   'I'O    r,(K)    l^.C.  [§129 

wit.li  ])()\v<'r  to  control  his  iiiovt'iiiciits,  jirul  even  to  arrest  him 
and  put  him  to  death.  In  pra(!ti<u',  the  Eplior.s acted  us  the  serv- 
oiils  of  the  Senate,  which  indeed  really  controlled  the  nomina- 
tions and  elections  of  tliese  officers. 

To  the  Greeks,  all  delegation  of  power,  even  to  officers  elected  for 
short  terms,  seemed  undemocratic.  They  would  not  have  called  our 
government  by  President,  Congress,  and  Supreme  Court  a  democracy  at 
all.  Our  government  is  sometimes  called  a  ■•  representative  democracy." 
To  the  Greeks,  democracy  always  meant  "  direct  democracy,"  —  a  gov- 
ernment in  which  each  freeman  took  somewhat  the  same  part  that  a 
member  of  Congress  does  with  us  —  a  system  such  that  each  citizen 
voted,  not  occasionally,  to  elect  representatives,  but  constantly,  on  all 
matters  of  importance,  —  which  matters  he  might  also  discuss  in  the 
ruling  Assembly  of  his  city.  Even  one  of  our  State  governments  with 
the  "initiative  "  and  "referendum  "  would  have  seemed  to  the  Greek  a 
very  mild  sort  of  '-direct  democracy."  By  his  standard,  Sparta  was 
exceedingly  aristocratic. 

129.  Classes  in  Laconia.  —  Moreover,  the  Spartans  as  a  whole 
icere  a  ruling  class  in  the  midst  of  snbjects  eight  or  ten  times  their 
number.  They  were  simply  a  camp  of  some  nine  thousand  con- 
querors (with  their  families)  living  under  arms  in  their  unwalle<l 
city.  They  were  wholly  given  to  camp  life.  They  had  taken 
to  themselves  the  most  fertile  lands  in  Laconia,  but  they  did 
no  work.  Each  man's  land  was  tilled  by  certain  slaves,  or 
HeJids. 

The  Helots  numbered  four  or  five  to  one  Spartan.  They 
were  slaves,  hot  to  individual  Spartans,  but  to  the  government. 
Besides  tilling  the  Spartan  lands,  they  furnished  light-armed 
troops  in  war ;  but  they  were  a  constant  danger.  A  secret 
police  of  active  Spartan  youth  busied  itself  in  detecting  plots 
among  them,  and  sometimes  carried  out  secret  massacres  of  the 
more  intelligent  and  ambitioiis  slaves. 

Indeed  it  was  law/id  for  any  Spartan  to  kill  a  Helot  with- 
out trial ;  and  sometimes  crowds  of  Helots  vanished  mysteri- 
ously when  their  numbers  threatened  Spartan  safety.  On  one 
occasion,  in  the  great  struggle  with  Athens  in  the  fifth  cen- 


§  liiO]  SPARTA'S   HEADSHIP  139 

tury  (§§  192  ff.),  the  Spartans  gave  the  Helots  heavy  armor, 
but  afterward  tliey  become  terrified  at  the  possible  couse- 
quences.  Thucydides  (the  Greek  historian  of  that  period) 
tells  how  they  met  the  danger :  — 

"They  proclaimed  that  a  selection  would  be  made  of  those  Helots  who 
claimed  to  have  rendered  the  best  service  to  the  Spartans  in  the  war,  and 
promised  them  liberty.  The  announcement  was  intended  to  test  them  : 
it  was  thought  that  those  among  them  who  were  foremost  in  asserting 
their  freedom  would  bo  most  high-spirited  and  most  likely  to  rise  against 
their  masters.  So  [the  Spartans]  selected  about  two  thousand,  who  were 
crowned  with  garlands,  and  went  in  procession  round  the  temples.  They 
[the  Helots]  were  supposed  to  have  received  their  liberty,  but  not  long 
afterwards  the  Spnrtana  put  them  all  out  of  the  imy,  and  no  man  knew 
how  any  of  them  came  to  their  end."' 

The  inhabitants  of  the  hundred  small  subject  towns  of  Laco- 
nia  were  free  men,  but  they  were  not  part  of  the  Spartan  state. 
They  kept  their  own  customs  and  shared  in  the  government  of 
their  cities,  under  the  supervision  of  Spartan  rulers.  They 
tilled  lands  of  their  own,  and  they  carried  on  such  trades  and 
commerce  as  existed  in  Laconia. 

These  subject  Laconians  were  three  or  four  to  one  Spartan-, 
and  they  furnished,  in  large  measure,  the  heavy-armed  soldiers 
of  the  Spartan  army.  The  Ephors  could  put  them  to  death 
without  trial,  but  they  seem,  as  a  rule,  to  have  been  well  treated 
and  well  content. 

Thus  the  inhabitants  of  Laconia  were  of  three  classes : 
a  small  ruling  body  of  warriors,  licing  i)i  one  central  settlement ; 
a  large  class  of  cruelly  treated,  rural  serfs,  to  till  the  soil  for  these 
aristocratic  soldiers  ;  another  large  class  of  tvell-treated  subjects, 
—  town-dwellers,  —  loho,  however,  had  no  share  in  the  Sjicirtan 
government. 

130.  "Spartan  Discipline."  —  Sparta  kept  its  mastery  in  La- 
conia by  sleepless  vigilance  and  by  a  rigid  discipline.  That 
discipline  is  sometimes  praised  as  "the  Spartan  training." 
its  sole  aim  was  to  make  soldiers.  It  succeeded  in  this;  but 
it  was  harsh  and  brutal. 


140  HELLAS  FROM    1000  TO    500  B.C.  [§  130 

The  famihj,  as  vx'll  us  the  iiiau,  hcloiKjed  absolutely  to  the 
state.  The  Ephors  examined  each  chihl,  at  its  birth,  to  decide 
whether  it  was  fit  to  live.  If  it  seemed  weak  or  i»uny,  it  was 
exposed  in  the  mountains  to  die.  The  father  and  mother 
coukl  not  save  it.  If  it  was  strong  and  liealthy,  it  was  re- 
turned to  its  parents  for  a  few  years.  But  after  a  boy  reached 
the  age  of  seven,  he  never  again  slept  under  his  mother's  roof: 
he  was  taken  from  home,  to  be  trained  with  other  boys  under 
jniblic  officers,  until  he  was  twenty. 

The  boys  were  taught  reading  and  a  little  martial  music, 
but  they  were  given  no  other  mental  culture.  The  main  pur- 
pose of  their  education  was  to  harden  and  strengthen  the  body 
and  to  develop  self-control  and  obedience.  On  certain  festival 
days,  boys  were  whipped  at  the  altars  to  test  their  endurance ; 
and  Plutarch  (a  Greek  writer  of  the  second  century  a.d.)  states 
that  they  often  died  under  the  lash  rather  than  utter  a  cry. 
This  custom  was  much  like  the  savage  "  sun-dance "  of  some 
American  Indian  tribes.  Indeed,  several  features  of  Spartan 
life  that  are  ascribed  by  legend  to  Lycurgus  seem  rather  to 
have  been  survivals  of  a  barbarous  period  that  the  Spartans 
never  wholly  outgrew. 

From  twenty  to  thirty,  the  youth  lived  under  arms  in  bar- 
racks. There  he  was  one  of  a  mess  of  fifteen.  From  his  land 
he  had  to  provide  his  part  of  the  barley  meal,  cheese,  and 
black  broth,  with  meat  on  holidays,  for  the  company's  food. 
The  mess  drilled  and  fought  side  by  side,  so  that  in  battle 
each  man  knew  that  his  daily  companions  and  friends  stood 
about  him.  These  many  years  of  constant  military  drill  made 
it  easy  for  the  Spartans  to  adopt  more  complex  tactics  than 
were  possible  for  their  neighbors.  They  were  trained  in  small 
regiments  and  companies,  so  as  to  maneuver  readily  at  the 
word  of  command.  This  made  them  superior  in  the  field. 
They  stood  to  the  other  Greeks  as  disciplined  soldiery  always 
stand  to  untrained  militia. 

At  thirty  the  man  was  required  to  marry,  in  order  to  rear 
more  soldiers ;  but  he  must  still  eat  in  barracks,  and  live  there 


§  132]  RISE   OF   DEMOCRACY  AT  ATHENS  141 

most  of  the  time.  He  had  no  real  home.  Said  an  Athenian, 
"  The  Spartan's  life  is  so  unendurable  that  it  is  no  wonder  he 
throws  it  away  lightly  in  battle." 

There  was  certain  virtue,  no  doubt,  in  this  training.  The 
Spartans  had  the  quiet  dignity  of  born  rulers.  In  contrast  with 
the  noisy  Greeks  all  about  them,  their  speech  was  brief  and 
pithy  ("laconic"  speech).  They  used  only  iron  money.  And 
their  plain  living  made  them  appear  superior  to  the  Aveak  in- 
dulgences of  other  men.  After  the  introduction  of  Ephors, 
their  form  of  government  did  not  change  for  five  hundred 
years ;  and  this  changeless  character  called  forth  admiration 
from  the  other  Greeks,  who  were  accustomed  to  kaleidoscopic 
revolutions.  Spartan  women,  too,  kept  a  freedom  which  un- 
happily was  lost  in  other  Greek  cities.  Girls  were  trained  in 
gymnastics,  much  as  boys  were  ;  and  the  women  were  famous 
for  beauty  and  health,  and  for  public  spirit  and  patriotism. 

131.  The  value  of  the  Spartans  to  the  world  lay  in  the  fact  that  thqj 
made  a  garrison  for  the  rest  of  Greece,  and  helped  save  something  better 
than  themselves.  In  themselves,  they  were  hard,  ignorant,  narrow. 
They  did  nothing  for  art,  literature,  science,  or  philosophy.  If  the  Greeks 
had  all  been  Spartans,  we  could  afford  to  omit  the  study  of  Greek  history. 

For  Further  Reading. — All  students  should  read  the  charming 
account  of  Spartan  custom.s  contained  in  Plutarch's  Life  of  Lyniryus. 
Davis'  Readings  has  several  pages  of  extracts  from  the  more  valuable 
part. 

Exercise.  —  Name  the  three  classes  of  people  in  Laconia.  Which  one 
alone  had  full  political  rights  ?  What  were  the  four  parts  of  the  govern- 
ment ?     State  the  powers  of  each. 

V.    BEGINNING  OF  DEMOCRACY   AT  ATHENS 

132.  Consolidation  of  Attica.  —  Athens  was  the  only  city  in  At- 
tica —  a  considerable  territory.  Like  Sparta,  Athens  was  the 
result  of  more  consolidation  than  was  common  with  Greek  cities. 
Tn  other  districts  as  large  as  Attica  or  Laconia  there  were 
always  groups  of  independent  cities.  Boeotia,  for  instance, 
contained  twelve  cities,  jealous  of  one  another ;  and  Thebes, 


142  IIKI.LAS   FItOM    lOOO   TO   oUO    B.C.  [§  133 

tlio  liirgcst  aiiioiit,'  them,  (-(nild  at  best  hope  for  only  a  limited 
leadership  over  hvv  rivals. 

In  Attica,  befon;  history  really  be^^aii,  the  he^finiiiiigs  of  several  cities 
liad  been  coiisolidaled  in  one  (§  103).  Indeed,  consolidation  had  been 
carried  even  farther  than  with  Sparta.  Athens  was  the  home  of  all  the 
free  inhabitants  of  Attica,  not  merely  the  camp  of  one  riding  tribe. 

133.  Favorable  Conditions.  ^—Attica  is  one  of  the  most  easily 
defended  districts  of  all  Greece  —  against  any  force  not  ab.so- 
lutely  overwhelming.  It  is  a  peninsula;  and  on  the  two  laud 
sides,  where  it  borders  Megaris  and  Boeotia,  it  is  reached  only 
through  fairly  difficult  passes.  These  facts  explain,  in  part, 
why  Attica  was  the  one  spot  of  southern  Greece  not  overrun  by 
conquerors  at  the  time  of  the  Dorian  migration.  Naturally,  it 
became  a  refuge  for  Ionian  clans  driven  from  the  Peloponnesus. 
The  richest  and  strongest  of  these  were  adopted  into  the  tribes 
of  Attica.  Others  became  dependants.  The  frequent  and 
peaceful  introdiiction  of  new  blood  helped  to  make  the  people 
progressive  and  open  to  outside  influence. 

134.  Decline  of  the  Homeric  Kingship.  —  Like  other  Greek 
cities,  Athens  lost  her  kings  in  the  dim  centuries  before  we 
have  any  real  history.  The  nobles  began  to  restrict  the  royal 
power  about  1000  b.c.  The  king's  title  had  been  kiug-archon. 
Alongside  the  king-ai-chon  the  nobles  first  set  up,  from  among 
themselves,  a  ivar-archon  {polemarch).  Then  they  created  a 
chief-archon,  usually  called  tJiP  Archoii,  to  act  as  judge  and  as 
chief  executive  of  the  government.  After  that,  the  kiug-archon 
was  only  the  city-priest.  In  752,  the  office  was  made  elective, 
for  ten-year  terms.  For  some  time  longer  the  king-archon  was 
always  chosen  from  the  old  royal  family ;  but  finally  the  office 
was  thrown  open  to  any  noble.  At  last,  in  682  b.c,  the  archons 
were  all  made  annual  officers,  and  the  number  was  increased  to 
nine,  because  of  the  growing  judicial  work. 

135.  Rule  by  the  Nobles.  —  The  nobles  were  known  as  Eupitr 
In'd.s  (well-born).  They  were  the  chiefs  of  llie  numerous  clans 
in  Attica.     Their  council  was  called  tlw  ^Inojxii/iis,  from  the 


§  187)  RISE   OF   DEMOCRACY  AT   ATHENS  143 

name  uf  t,lu;  hill  wliero  it  Jiiut.  The  A  iroiiai^'us  chose  the 
archons  (from  nobles,  of  course),  and  ruled  Attica.  The  other 
tribesmen  had  even  less  influence  than  in  Homeric  times. 
TIkoi  no  loiKjer  had  a  jtolitical  As.seiiibli/. 

136.  Economic  ^  Oppression.  —  The  nobles  tyrannized  over  the 
common  tribesmen  in  economic  matters.  Most  of  the  land  had 
come  to  belong  to  the  nobles.  They  tilled  it  mainly  by  tenants, 
who  paid  Jive  sixths  of  the  produce  for  rent.  A  bad  season  or 
hostile  ravages  compelled  these  tenants  to  borrow  seed  or  food, 
and  to  mortgage  themselves  for  payment.  If  a  debtor  failed 
to  pay  promptly,  he  and  his  family  could  be  dragged  oft'  in 
chains  and  sold  into  slavery. 

l^esides  the  great  landlords  and  their  tenants,  there  was  a 
class  of  small  farmers  owning  their  own  lands  ;  but  often  these 
men  also  were  obliged  to  borrow  of  the  nobles.  In  conse- 
quence, many  of  them  passed  into  the  condition  of  tenants. 
Aristotle  (a  later  Greek  writer)  says:  — 

"  The  poor  with  their  wives  and  children  were  the  very  bondsmen  of  the 
rich,  who  named  them  Sixth-men,  because  it  was  for  this  wage  they  tilled 
the  land.  The  entire  land  was  in  the  hands  of  a  few.  If  the  poor  failed 
to  pay  their  rents  they  were  liable  to  be  haled  into  slavery.  .  .  .  They 
were  discontented  also  with  every  other  feature  of  their  lot,  for,  to  speak 
generally,  tfui/  lunl  )hi  xfiarp  in  ini>/thi »(/.'''  —  Constitution  of  Atliens,  2. 

137.  The  first  advance  was  to  base  political  power  in  part  upon 
wealth.  'I'he  supremacy  of  the  nobles  had  rested  largely  on 
their  superiority  in  war.  They  composed  the  "knights,"  or 
heavy-armed  cavalry  of  Attica.  In  comparison  with  this  cav- 
alry, the  early  foot  soldiery  was  only  a  light-armed  mob.  But, 
before  650,  the  Athenians  adopted  the  Dorian  ])lan  of  a  heavy- 
armed  infantry  ("  hojjlites "),  with  shield,  helmet,  and  long 
spear.  Tlie  serried  ranks  of  this  infantry  j)^'Oved  able  to  repel 
cavalry.  The  importance  of  the  nobles  in  war  declined,  and 
there  followed  some  decrease  in  their  political  power. 

1  "Economic  "  means  "  with  reference  to  property,"  or  "  with  reference  to 
the  way  of  gutting  a  living."  The  wor<l  must  not  be  confused  with  "  eco- 
noniiciil.' 


144 


HELLAS  FROM    1000  TO   f.OO  B.C. 


[§  138 


Each  man  fuiuislied  liis  own  arms  for  war.  So,  in  order  that 
each  might  know  just  what  military  service  was  required  from 
liim,  all  tribesmen  were  divided  into  four  classes,  according  to 
their  ycdrly  income  from,  land,}  The  first  and  second  classes 
(the  richest  ones)  were  obliged  to  serve  as  knights,  or  cavalry. 
Doubtless  at  first  these  were  all  nobles.  The  third  class  were 
to  arm  themselves  as  hoplites.  The  fourth  class  were  called 
into  the  field  less  often,  and  only  as  light-armed  troops. 

This  "  census  "  was  designed 
only  to  regulate  service  in  the 
army,  but  it  became  a  basis  for 
the  distribution  of  political  x>oiver. 
All  the  heavy-armed  soldiery  — 
the  three  higher  classes  —  came  to 
have  the  right  to  vote  on  ques- 
tions of  peace  and  war,  and  in 
time  they  grew  into  a  nevj  politi- 
cal Assembly.  This  Assembly 
elected  archons  and  other  officers. 
Thus  political  rights  ceased  to  be 
based  tvholly  on  birth,  and  became  j^artly  a  matter  ofwecdth. 

138.  Civil  Strife.  —  In  general,  however,  the  nobles  seemed 
almost  as  safely  intrenched  under  the  new  system  by  their 
wealth  as  they  had  been  before  by  birth.  Their  rule  continued 
selfish  and  incompetent;  and  nothing  had  been  done  to  cure 
the  sufferings  of  the  poor.  The  people  grew  more  and  more 
bitter ;  and,  at  length,  ambitious  adventurers  began  to  try  to 
overthrow  the  oligarchy  and  make  themselves  tyrants.  One 
young  conspirator,  Cylon,  with  his  forces,  actually  seized  the 
Acropolis,  the  citadel  of  Athens.  The  nobles  rallied,  and 
Cylon  was  defeated ;  but  the  ruling  oligarchy  had  received  a 
fright,  and  they  now  made  a  great  concession  (§  139). 


Greek  Soldier. 


1  500-measure  men,  300-measure  men,  200-measure  men,  and  those  whose 
income  was  less  than  200  measures  of  wheat.  (The  Greek  "  measure  "  was  a 
little  more  than  half  a  bushel.) 


§  140]  RISE   OF  DEMOCRACY  AT  ATHENS  145 

139.  Draco :  Written  Laws.  —  Until  621  b.c,  Athenian  law 
had  been  a  matter  of  ancient  custom.  It  was  not  written  down, 
and  much  of  it  was  known  only  to  the  nobles.  All  judges,  of 
course,  were  nobles ;  and  they  abused  their  power  in  order  to 
favor  their  own  class.  Therefore  the  Athenians  clamored  for  a 
written  code.  They  did  not  ask  yet  for  new  laws,  but  only 
that  the  old  laws  might  be  definitely  fixed  and  known  to  all. 

The  nobles  had  long  resisted  this  demand.  But  in  621, 
after  the  attempt  of  Cylon,  they  consented  that  Draco,  one  of 
the  archons,  should  draw  up  a  written  code.  This  was  done ; 
and  the  "  laws  of  Draco  "  were  engraved  on  wooden  blocks  and 
set  up  where  all  might  see  them.  Draco  did  not  make  new 
laws:  he  merely  put  old  customs  into  fixed  written  form.  The 
result  was  to  make  men  feel  how  harsh  and  unfit  the  old  laws 
were,  —  "  written  in  blood  rather  than  ink,"  as  was  said  in  a  later 
age.     The  Athenians  now  demanded  new  laws. 

140.  Solon.  —  Just  at  this  time  Athens  produced  a  rare  man 
who  was  to  render  her  great  service.  Solon  was  a  descendant 
of  the  old  kings.  In  his  youth  he  had  been  a  trader  to  other 
lands,  even  going  as  far  as  Egypt  (§  23).  He  was  already 
famous  as  a  poet,  a  general,  and  a  philosopher ;  and  he  was  to 
show  himself  also  a  statesman. 

Solon's  patriotism  had  been  proven.  At  one  time  the  internal  quarrels 
had  so  weakened  Athens  that  little  Megara  had  captured  Salamis.  In 
control  of  this  island,  it  was  easy  for  Megara  to  seize  ships  trying  to  enter 
the  Athenian  ports.  Efforts  to  recover  this  important  place  failed  miser- 
ably ;  and,  in  despair,  the  Athenians  had  voted  to  put  to  death  any  one 
who  sliould  again  propose  the  attempt.  Solon  shammed  madness,  —  to 
claim  a  crazy  man's  privilege,  —  and,  appearing  suddenly  in  the  Assem- 
bly, recited  a  warlike,  patriotic  poem  which  roused  his  countrymen  to 
fresh  efforts.  Solon  was  made  general ;  and  he  recovered  Salamis  and 
saved  Athens  from  ruin. 

Now,  in  peril  of  civil  war,  the  city  turned  naturally  to  Solon. 
He  was  known  to  sympathize  with  the  poor.  In  his  jioems  he 
had  blamed  the  greed  of  the  nobles  and  had  i)leaded  for  recon- 
ciliation between  the  classes.  All  trusted  liim,  and  the  poor 
loved  him.     He  was  elected  Archon,  with  special  aiithorif;/,  to 


14G  HELLAS  FROM    lOOO  TO   r,()0   3.C.  [§  HI 

make  n(!W  laws  and  to  remodel  the  government.     This  office 
hf  hold  for  two  years,  .7.9/  (ind  off-J  liC 

141.  The  "Shaking-off  of  Burdens."  —  The  first  year  .Solon 
swept  away  economic  evils.  Three  iiica^n/res  ri'jhted  paxt 
tvrongs :  — 

a.  The  old  tenants  were  given  fnll  ownership  of  the  lands 
which  thoy  had  formerly  cultivated  for  the  nobles.' 

b.  All  debts  were  canceled  so  as  to  give  a  new  start. 

c.  All  Athenians  in  slavery  in  Attica  were  freed. 
Two  medsun's  aimed  to  prevetd  a  return  of  old  evils:  — 

d.  It  was  made  illegal  to  reduce  Athenians  to  slavery. 

e.  To  own  more  than  a  certain  quantity  of  land  was  for- 
bidden. 

In  later  times  the  w^hole  people  celebrated  these  acts  of  Solon 
each  year  by  a  ''  Festival  of  the  Shaking-off  of  Burdens."' 

142.  Political  Reform.  —  These  economic  changes  resulted  in 
political  change,  since  political  power  was  already  based  upon 
landed  property.  Up  to  the  time  of  Solon,  the  nobles  had 
owned  most  of  the  land.  But  now  much  of  it  had  been  given 
to  the  poor,  and  henceforth  it  was  easy  for  any  rich  man  to  buy 
land.  Many  merchants  now  rose  into  the  first  class,  while 
many  nobles  sank  into  other  classes.  Soon,  the  Eupatrid  name 
disappeared. 

Moreovei',  in  the  second  year  of  his  Archonshi}),  Solon  intro- 
duced direct  politiccd  chaiiges  tohich  ivent  far  toward  making 
Athens  a  deniocracy. 

a.  A  Senate  jcas  created,  to  prepare  measures  for  the  Assem- 
bly to  act  upon.  The  members  were  chosen  each  year  by  lot,-  so 
that  neither  wealth  nor  birth  could  control  the  election.  This 
new  part  of  the  government  became  the  guiding  part. 

b.  The  Assembly  (§  137)  teas  enlarged  both  as  to  size  and 

1  In  one  of  his  poems,  Solon  speaks  of  "  freeing  tlie  enslaved  land,"  by  re- 
moving the  stone  pillars  whioh  liad  marked  the  nobles'  ownership. 

-  The  lot  in  elections  was  regarded  as  an  appeal  to  the  gods,  and  its  use  was 
accompanied  by  religious  sacritices'and  by  prayer.  The  early  Puritans  in  New 
England  sometimes  used  the  lot  in  a  similar  way. 


§  14.-,]  RISE   OP   DEMOCRACY   AT   ATHENS  147 

pDirer.  Tlio  '-fouitli  rlass"  (li.Gfht-aniied  soldiery)  were  ad- 
mitted to  vote  ill  it  —  tliough  they  were  not  allowed  to  hold 
office  of  any  kind.  This  enlarged  Assembly  of  all  Athenian 
tribesmen  ditn-nssed  the  proposals  of  the  Senate  and  decided 
npon  them  ;  elected  the  archons  ;  and  could  try  them  for  misyoc- 
eniment  at  the  end  of  their  year  of  office. 

c.  The  Areopagus  was  no  longer  a  council  of  nobles  only.  It  was 
composed  ofex-arrhons.  Thus,  it  was  elected,  indirectly,  by  the  Assembly. 
It  had  lost  most  of  its  powers  to  the  Senate  and  As.sembly  ;  but  it  re- 
mained a  court  to  try  murder  cases,  and  to  exercise  a  supervision  over 
the  morals  of  the  citizens,  with  power  to  impose  tines  for  extravagance, 
insolence,  or  gluttony. 

143.  Additional  Measures.  —  Solon  also  replaced  Draco's 
bloody  laws  with  a  milder  code ;  introduced  a  coinage  (§  70) ; 
made  it  the  duty  of  each  father  to  teach  his  son  a  trade; 
limited  the  wealth  that  might  be  buried  with  the  dead;  and 
restricted  women  from  appearing  in  public. 

144.  The  sixth  century  B.C.  was  one  of  great  progress  in  Athens. 
In  6S2  B.C.,  a  few  noble  families  still  owned  most  of  the 

soil,  possessed  all  political  power,  and  held  the  rest  of  the  peo- 
ple in  virtual  slavery. 

In  593  B.C.,  when  Solon  laid  down  his  office,  nearly  all 
Athenian  tribesmen  were  landowners.  All  were  members  of 
the  political  Assembly,  which  decided  public  questions. 

Some  elements  of  aristocracy  were  left.  To  hold  office,  a  man  had  to  pos- 
sess enough  wealth  to  belong  to  one  of  the  three  higher  classes,  and  som; 
offices  were  open  only  to  the  wealthiest  class.  But  if  this  Athenian  prog- 
ress seems  slow  to  us,  we  must  remember  that  in  nearly  all  the  Ameri- 
can states,  for  some  time  after  the  Revolutionary  War,  important  offices 
and  the  right  to  vote  were  open  only  to  men  with  property. 

145.  Anarchy  Renewed.  — The  reforms  of  Solon  did  not  end 
tln'  hcree  strife  of  factions.  P>itter  feuds  followed  between  the 
Pldin  (wealthy  landowners),  the  Shore  (merchants),  and  the 
Mountain  (shepherds  and  small  farmers).  Twice  within  ten 
years  disorder  prevented  the  election  of  archons. 


148  HELLAS    FIIOM    1(K)()  TO   500  B.O.  [§  140 

146.  Pisistratus,  560-527.  —  From  such  anarchy  the  city  was 
saved  by  Pishtrataa.  In  500  jj.c'  this  noble  made  himself 
tyrant,  by  help  of  the  Mountain  (the  most  democratic  fac- 
tion). Twice  the  aristocracy  drove  him  into  exile,  once  for 
ten  years.  But  each  time  he  recovered  his  power,  almost 
without  bloodshed,  because  of  the  favor  of  the  poorer  people. 

His  rule  was  mild  and  wise.  He  lived  simi)ly,  like  other 
citizens.  He  even  appeared  in  a  law  court,  to  answer  in  a  suit 
against  him.  And  he  always  treated  the  aged  Solon  (his  kins- 
man) with  deep  respect,  desi)ite  the  Litter's  bitter  opposition. 
Indeed,  Pisistratus  governed  throuyh  the  forms  of  Soloii's  constitu- 
tion,^ and  enforced  Solon's  laws,  taking  care  only  to  have  his  oivn 
friends  elected  to  the  chief  offices.  He  was  more  like  the  "boss" 
of  a  great  political  "  machine  "  than  like  a  "  tyrant."  During 
the  last  period  of  his  rule,  however,  he  did  banish  many  nobles 
and  guarded  himself  by  mercenary  soldiers. 

Pisistratus  encouraged  commerce;  enlarged  and  beautified 
Athens ;  built  roads,  and  an  aqueduct  to  bring  a  supply  of  water 
to  the  city  from  the  hills ;  and  drew  to  his  court  a  brilliant  circle 
of  poets,  painters,  architects,  and  sculptors,  from  all  Hellas. 
The  first  written  edition  of  the  Homeric  poems  is  said  to  have 
been  put  together  under  bis  encouragement.  During  this  same 
time,  Anacreon  (§  155)  wrote  his  graceful  odes  at  Athens,  and 
TJies^ns  (§  155)  began  Greek  tragedy  at  the  magnificent  festivals 
there  instituted  to  Dionysus  (god  of  wine).  The  tyrant  gave 
new  splendor  to  the  public  worship,  and  set  up  rural  festivals 
in  various  parts  of  Attica,  to  make  country  life  more  attractive. 
He  divided  the  confiscated  estates  of  banished  nobles  among 
landless  freemen,  and  thus  increased  the  number  of  peasant 
landholders.     Attica  was  no  longer  torn  by  dissension. 

"Not  only  was  he  in  every  respect  humane  and  mild  and  ready  to  for- 
give those  who  offended,  but  in  addition  he  advanced  money  to  the  poorer 
people  to  help  them  in  their  labors. 

»  Two  years  before  Cyrus  became  king  of  Persia. 

2  Constitution,  here  and  everywhere  in  early  history,  means  not  a  written 
document,  as  with  us,  but  the  general  usages  of  government  in  practice. 


§  148]  RISE  OF  DEMOCRACY  AT  ATHENS  149 

"  For  the  same  reason  [to  make  rural  life  attractive]  he  instituted 
local  justices,  and  often  made  expeditions  in  person  into  the  country 
to  inspect  it,  and  to  settle  disputes  between  persons,  that  they  might  not 
come  to  the  city  and  neglect  their  farms.  It  was  in  one  of  these  prog- 
resses, as  the  story  goes,  that  Pisistratus  had  his  adventure  with  the 
man  in  the  district  of  Ilymettus,  who  was  cultivating  the  spot  afterwards 
known  as  the  'Tax-free  Farm.'  He  saw  a  man  digging  at  very  stony 
ground  with  a  stake,  and  sent  and  asked  what  he  got  out  of  such  a  plot 
of  land.  'Aches  and  pains,'  said  the  man,  'and  out  of  these  Pisistratus 
mu.st  get  his  tenth.'  Pisistratus  was  so  pleased  with  the  man's  frank 
speech  and  industry  that  he  granted  him  exemption  from  taxes." — 
Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens,  17. 

147.  Expulsion  of  the  Son  of  Pisistratus,  510  B.C. — Tn  r)27, 
Pisistratus  was  succeeded  by  his  sons  Hippias  and  Hipparchus. 
Hipparchus,  the  younger  brother,  lived  an  evil  life,  and  in  514 
he  was  murdered  because  of  a  private  grudge.^  The  rule  of 
Hippias  had  been  kindly,  but  now  he  grew  cruel  and  suspicious, 
and  Athens  became  ready  for  revolt. 

CUsthenes,  one  of  a  band  of  exiled  nobles,  saw  his  opportunity 
to  regain  his  home.  The  temple  of  Apollo  at  Delphi  had  just 
been  burned,  and  Clisthenes  engaged  to  rebuild  it.  He  did  so 
with  great  magnificence,  using  the  finest  of  marble  where  the 
contract  had  called  only  for  common  limestone.  After  this, 
whenever  the  Spartans  consulted  the  oracle,  no  matter  what  the 
occasion,  they  were  always  ordered  by  the  priestess  to  ^'Jirst  set 
free  the  Athenians."  The  Spartans  had  no  quarrel  with  Hippias ; 
but  repeated  commands  from  such  a  source  could  not  be  disre- 
garded. In  510,  a  reluctant  Spartan  army,  with  the  Athenian 
exiles,  expelled  the  tyrant. 

148.  Vigor  of  Free  Athens.  —  The  Athenians  were  now  in 
confusion  again ;  but  they  were  stronger  than  before  the  rule 
of  Pisistratus,  and  better  able  to  govern  themselves.  The 
oligarchy  strove  to  regain  its  ancient  control ;  but  Clisthenes 
wisely  threw  his  strength  upon  the  side  of  the  people,  and 
drove  out  the  oligarchs.     The  Thebans  and  Euboeans  seized 

1  Davis'  Readings,  Vol.  I,  No.  53,  gives  the  patriotic  song  of  Athens  that 
commemorated  this  event. 


150  IIKI.LAS    FliOM    lOOO  TO    .'>()()   B.C.  (§149 

this  time  of  oonfiisiou  to  invade  Attica  from  two  sides  at  once; 
but  they  were  routed  by  a  double  (ingaf,'enient  in  one  day.  A 
Spartan  army  restored  the  oligarchs  for  a  moment,  but  was 
itself  soon  besieged  in  the  Acropolis  and  captured  by  the 
aroused  democracy. 

A  century  later  an  Atlienian  dramatist  (Aristophanes,  §221)  portrayed 
the  Athenian  exultation  (and  hinted  some  differences  between  Athenian 
and  Spartan  life)  in  the  followinj?  lines  :  — 

..."  For  all  his  loud  fire-eating, 
The  old  Spartan  got  a  beating, 
And,  in  sorry  plight  retreating, 

Left  his  spear  and  shield  with  me. 
Then,  with  only  his  poor  shirt  on, 
And  who  knows  what  years  of  dirt  on, 
With  a  bristling  bush  of  beard, 

He  slunk  away  and  left  us  free." 

The  Athenians  had  enjoyed  little  fame  in  war,  "but  now," 
says  Aristotle,  "  they  showed  that  men  will  fight  more  bravely 
for  themselves  than  for  a  master."  Indeed,  they  were  not 
content  simply  to  defend  themselves.  Chalcis  in  Euboea  was 
stormed,  and  its  trade  with  Thrace  (§  122)  fell  to  Athens. 

Athens  noio  began  a  neiv  kind  of  colonization,  sending  four 
thousand  citizens  to  possess  the  best  land  of  Chalcis,  and  to 
serve  as  a  garrison  there.  These  men  retained  full  Athenian 
citizenship.  They  were  known  as  clernchs,  or  out-settlers.  In 
this  way  Athens  found  land  for  her  surplus  population,  and 
fortified  her  influence  abroad. 

During  these  struggles,  Clisthenes  proposed  further  reforms  in  the 
government.  The  people  adopted  his  proposals,  and  so  made  Athens  a  true 
democracy.     (See  §§  149-152.) 

149.    There  were  four  main  evils  for  Clisthenes  to  remedy. 

a.  The  constitution  of  Solon,  though  a  great  advance  toward 
democracy,  had  lejl  the  ijovernment  still  largely  in  the  hands  of 
the  rich.     The  poorest  "  class  "  (ivhich  contained  at  least  half  of 


§  151]  RISE   OF  DEMOCRACY   AT  ATHENS  151 

all  the  citizens)  could  not  liold  office ;  and  the  Assembly  had 
not  learned  how  to  use  its  new  powers. 

b.  The  jealousy  between  the  Plain,  the  Shore,  and  the 
Mountain  (§  145)  still  caused  great  confusion. 

c.  All  voting  was  by  clans ;  and  there  was  strong  temptation 
for  each  clan  merely  to  rally  around  its  own  chief. 

d.  There  was  a  bitter  jealousy  between  the  Athenian  tribes- 
men (the  citizens)  and  a  large  body  of  non-citizens.  The 
presence  of  these  calls  for  a  further  explanation. 

150.  The  Non-citizen  Class.  —  Solon's  reforms  had  concerned 
tribesmen  only.  But  in  the  ninety  years  between  Solon  and 
Clisthenes,  the  groiving  trade  of  Athens  had  drawn  many  aliens 
there.  These  men  were  enterprising  and  sometimes  wealthy ; 
but  though  they  lived  in  the  city,  they  had  no  share  in  it.  No 
alien  could  vote  or  hold  ojfice,  or  sue  in  a  laiv  court  (except 
through  the  favor  of  some  citizen),  or  take  part  in  a  religious 
festival,  or  marry  an  Athenian,  or  even  oicn  land  in  Attica. 
The  city  might  find  it  worth  while  to  protect  his  property,  in 
order  to  attract  other  strangers ;  but  he  had  no  secure  rights. 
Nor  could  his  son,  or  his  son\'i  son,  or  any  later  descendant 
acquire  any  rights  merely  by  continuing  to  live  in  Athens. 

A  like  condition  was  found  in  other  Greek  cities;  but  rarely  were  the 
aliens  so  large  or  so  wealthy  a  class  as  in  commercial  Athens.  Discontent 
might  at  any  moment  make  them  a  danger.  Clisthenes'  plan  was  to  take 
them  into  the  state,  and  so  make  them  strengthen  it. 

151.  Geographical  Tribes. —  Clisthenes  began  his  zcork  by 
marking  off  Attica  into  a  hundred  divisions,  called  denies.  Each 
citizen  was  enrolled  in  one  of  these,  and  his  son  after  him. 
Membership  in  a  clan  had  always  been  the  proof  of  citizenship. 
Now  that  proof  was  to  be  found  in  this  deme-enrollment. 

The  hundred  demes  were  distributed  among  ten  "  tribes,''  or 
wards ;  but  the  ten  demes  of  each  tribe  were  not  located  close 
together.  Tliey  were  scattered  as  widely  as  2^ossible,  so  as  to  in- 
clude different  interests.  Voting  in  the  Assembly  was  no  longer 
by  the  old  blood  tribes,  but  by  these  ten  new  "  territorial " 


152  HELLAS  FROM    1000  TO  500  B.C.  [§  152 

tribes,     liy  this  one  device,  Clisthenes  remedied  three  of  the 
four  great  evils  of  the  time  (h,  c,  d,  in  §  149). 

(1)  A  clan  could  no  longer  act  as  a  unit,  since  its  members 
made  parts,  perhaps,  of  several  "tribes."  So  the  influence  of 
the  clan  chiefs  declined.  (2)  Men  of  the  Shore  and  of  the 
Mountain  often  found  themselves  united  in  the  same  tribe,  and 
the  old  factions  died  out.  (3)  While  Clisthenes  was  distribut- 
ing citizens  among  the  new  geographical  units,  he  seized  the 
chance  to  enroll  the  non-citizens  also  in  the  denies.  Thus,  fresh, 
progressive  influences  were  again  adopted  into  Athenian  life. 

It  must  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  aliens  continued  to  gain  ad- 
mission in  the  future,  as  with  us,  by  easy  naturalization.  The  act  of 
Clisthenes  applied  only  to  those  then  in  Athens,  and  to  their  descendants.  In 
a  few  years  another  alien  class  grew  up,  with  all  the  old  disadvantages. 

152.  The  Assembly  kept  its  old  powers,  and  gained  new  ones. 
It  began  to  deal  with  foreign  affairs,  taxation,  and  the  details 
of  campaigns.  It  no  longer  confined  itself  to  proposals  from 
the  "  Council  of  Five  Hundred  "  (the  new  name  for  the  Senate). 
Any  citizen  could  move  amendments  or  introduce  new  business. 
The  Assembly  now  elected  ten  "generals''  yearly,  who  took 
over  most  of  the  old  authority  of  the  archons. 

These  new  arrangements  corrected  much  of  the  first  evil 
noted  in  §  149.  Tlie  "fourth  class  "  of  citizens  ivas  still  not 
eligible  to  office.  Otherwise,  Athens  had  become  a  democracy. 
To  be  sure,  it  took  some  time  for  the  Assembly  to  realize  its 
full  power  and  to  learn  how  to  control  its  various  agents ;  but 
its  rise  to  supreme  authority  was  now  only  a  matter  of  natural 
growth. 

Solon  and  Clisthenes  were  the  two  men  who  stood  foremost  in  the 
great  work  of  putting  government  into  the  hands  of  the  people.  The 
struggle  in  which  they  were  champions  is  essentially  the  same  contest 
that  is  going  on  to-day.  The  student  will  have  little  difficulty  in  select- 
ing names,  in  America  and  in  European  countries,  to  put  in  the  list  which 
should  be  headed  with  the  names  of  these  two  Athenians. 


§  154]  ART,   POETRY,   PHILOSOPHY  153 

153.  Ostracism.  — One  peculiar  device  of  Clisthenes  deserves  mention. 
It  was  called  ostracism,  and  it  was  designed  to  head  off  civil  strife.  Once 
a  year  the  Assembly  was  given  a  chance  to  vote  by  ballot  (on  pieces  of 
pottery,  "ostraka"),  each  one  aejainst  any  man  whom  he  deemed  dan- 
gerous to  the  state.  If  six  thousand  citizens  thought  that  some  one  ought 
to  go  into  exile  for  the  safety  of  the  state,  then  that  man  had  to  go  against 
tohom  the  largest  number  of  the  six  thousand  votes  were  cast.  Such  exile 
was  felt  to  be  perfectly  honorable  ;  and  when  a  man  came  back  from  it,  he 
took  at  once  his  old  place  in  the  public  regard. 

Exercise:  Questions  on  the  Government.  —  For  the  Eupatrid  gov- 
ernment.—  1.  What  represented  the  monarchic  element  of  Homer's 
time?  2.  What  the  aristocratic  ?  3.  What  the  democratic  ?  4.  Which 
element  had  made  a  decided  gain  in  power  ?  5.  Which  had  lost  most  ? 
0.    Which  of  the  three  was  least  important  ?     7.    Which  most  important  ? 

For  the  government  after  Solon.  —  1.  What  was  the  basis  of  citizenship? 
2.  What  was  the  basis  for  distribution  of  power  among  the  citizens? 
;3.  Was  the  introduction  of  the  Senate  a  gain  for  the  aristocratic  or  demo- 
cratic element  ?  4.  What  powers  did  the  Assembly  gain  ?  5.  Which 
two  of  these  powers  enabled  the  Assembly  to  control  the  administration  ? 

Students  should  be  able  to  answer  similar  questions  on  the  government 
after  Clisthenes'  reforms.  It  would  be  a  good  exercise  for  the  class  to 
make  out  questions  themselves. 

VI.  INTELLECTUAL  DEVELOPMENT 

154.  Architecture,  painting,  and  sculpture  had  not  reached 
full  bloom  ill  the  sixth  century,  but  they  had  begun  to  show  a 
character  distinct  from  Oriental  art.  Their  chief  centers  in 
this  period  were  Miletus  and  Ephesus  (in  Ionia)  and  Athens. 
Architecture  was  more  advanced  than  painting  or  sculpture. 
It  found  its  best  development,  not  in  palaces,  as  in  the  old 
Cretan  civilization,  but  in  the  temples  of  the  gods.  In  every 
Greek  city,  the  temples  were  the  most  beautiful  and  the  most 
prominent  structures. 

The  plan  of  the  Greek  temple  was  very  simple.  People  did 
not  gather  within  the  building  for  service,  as  in  our  churches. 
They  only  brought  offerings  there.  The  inclosed  part  of  the 
building,  therefore,  was  small  and  rather  dark,  —  coutaining 
only  one  or  two  rooms,  for  the  statues  of  the  god  and  the  altar 


154 


HELLAS  FROM    1000  TO   500   B.C. 


(§  154 


and  t.h<^  safe-keeping  of  the  offerings.  It  was  merely  the  god's 
lioiise,  where  people  could  visit  liiin  wluai  tliey  wished  to  ask 
favors. 

In  shape,  the  temple  was  rectangular.  The  roof  projected 
beyond  tlie  inclosed  part  of  the  building,  and  was  supported 
not,  by  the  walls,  but  by  a  row  of  columns  running  around  the 
four  sides.  The  gables  (pediments)  in  front  and  rear  were  low, 
and  were  tilled  with  statuary,  as  was  also  the  frieze,  between 
the  cornice  and  the  columns.  Sometimes  there  was  a  second 
frieze  upon  the  walls  of  the  building  inside  the  colonnade. 


Ground  Plan  of  the  Tkmple  ob'  Thesetts  at  Athens. 


The  building  took  much  ,of  its  beauty  from  its  colonnades  ; 
and  the  chief  differences  in  the  styles  of  architecture  tvere  marked 
by  the  cohimns  and  their  capitals.  According  to  diffei-ences  in 
these  features,  a  building  is  said  to  belong  to  the  Doric,  Ionic, 
or  Corinthian  "order." 

In  the  Doric  order  the  column  \\di%  no  base  oi  its  own,  but  rests 
directly  upon  the  foundation  from  which  the  walls  rise.  The 
shaft  is  grooved  lengthwise  with  some  twenty  fiutings.  The 
capital  is  severely  simple,  consisting  of  a  circular  band  of  stone, 
swelling  up  from  the  shaft,  capped  by  a  square  block,  without 
ornament.  Upon  the  capitals  rests  a  plain  band  of  massive 
stones  {the  architrave),  and  above  this  is  the  frieze,  which  sup- 
ports the  roof.     The  frieze  is  divided  at  equal  spaces  by  tri- 


155] 


ART,   POETRY,   PHILOSOPHY 


155 


Ionic  Okdek. 


glyphs,  a  series  of  three  projecting  flutings;  and 
the  spaces  betAveen  the  triglyphs  are  filled  with 
sculpture. 

The  Doric  style  is  the  simplest  of  the  three 
orders.  It  is  almost  austere  in  its  plainness,  giv- 
ing a  sense  of  self-controlled 
power  and  repose.  Some- 
times it  is  called  a  masculine 
style,  in  contrast  with  the 
more  ornate  and  feminine 
character  of  the  Ionic  order. 

Tlie  Ionic  order  came  into 
general  use  later.  In  this 
style,  the  column  haa  a  base 
arranged  in  three  expanding 
circles.  The  shaft  is  vioi-e 
slender  than  the  Doric.  The 
swelling  bell  of  the  capital 
is  often  nobly  carved,  and  it 
is  surmounted  by  ttvo  sj^iral 
rolls.  The  frieze  has  no  tri- 
glyphs: the  sculpture  upon 
it  is  one  continuous  band. 

The  Corinthian  order  is  a  later 

development  and  does  not  belong  I>  .;!<•  Collmn.  —  From 

to  the  period  we  are  now  consid-  tlie  Temple  of  Theseus 

ering.     It  resembles  the  Ionian  ;  ^*  Athens. 

but  the  capital   is   taller,  lacks  ],  the  shaft ;  2,  the  capital; 

the  spirals,  and  is  more  highly  8.   the  frieze;     4,   cornice; 

ornamented,  with  forms  of  leaves    f'  ^''f  °^  '''''^'  ^'"'"''''^  '^^ 

low  slope. 

or  animals.     For  illustrations  of 

the  Doric  and  Ionic  orders,  see  also  pages  158,  150,  and 

especially  page  212. 


Corinthian 
Order, 


155.  Poetry.  —  In  poetiy  there  was  more  prog- 
res.s  even  than  in  architecture.  The  earliest  Greek 
poetry  had  beeii  made  up  of  ballads,  celebrating 


156 


HKLLAS  FROM    1  ()()()  TO   r,0()  B.C. 


[§  155 


Wilis  iiiul  lioroc.s.  Those  ballads  were  stories  in  verse,  sung  by 
wandering  minstrels.  Tlie  greatest  of  such  compositions  rose 
to  epic  poetry,  of  which  the  Iliad  and  Odyssey  are  the  noblest 
examples.     Their  period  is  called  the  Epic  Affc 

In  the  seventh  and  sixth  centuries,  most  poetry  consisted  of 
odes  and  songs  in  a  great  variety  of  meters,  —  corresponding  to 

the  more  varied  life 
of  the  time.  Love  and 
pleasure  are  the  favor- 
ite themes,  and  the 
poems  describe  feel- 
inrjs  rather  than  out- 
ward events.  They 
were  intended  to  be 
HHiig  to  the  accom- 
paniment of  the  lyre 
(a  sort  of  harp).  They 
are  therefore  called 
lyrics ;  and  the  sev- 
enth and  sixth  cen- 
turies are  known  as 
the  Lyric  Age. 

It  is  possible  to 
name  here  only  a  few 
of  the  many  famous 
lyric  poets  of  that 
age.  Sappho,  of  Lesbos,  wrote  exquisite  and  melodious  love 
songs,  of  which  a  few  fragments  survive.  Her  lover  Alcaens 
(another  Lesbian  poet)  described  her  as  "Pure  Sappho,  violet 
tressed,  softly  smiling."  The  ancients  were  wont  to  call  her 
"the  poetess,"  just  as  they  referred  to  Homer  as  "the  poet." 
Simonides  wrote  odes  to  arouse  Hellenic  patriotism ;  Anacreon 
has  been  spoken  of  in  connection  with  the  brilliant  court  of 
Pisistratus.  Tyrtaeus,  an  Attic  war-poet,  wrote  chiefly  for  the 
Spartans,  and  became  one  of  their  generals.  Corinna  was  a 
woman  poet  of  Boeotia.    Pindar,  the  greatest  of  the  lyric  poets, 


A  Doric  Capital.  —  From  a  photograph  of  a  de- 
tail of  the  Parthenon,  See  §  219  for  the  date 
and  history. 


§  156]  ART,   POETRY,   PHILOSOPHY  157 

came  from  the  same  district.  He  delighted  especially  to  cele- 
brate the  rushing  chariots  and  glorious  athletes  of  the  Olympic 
games. 

Two  other  great  poets,  representing  another  kind  of  poetry, 
belong  to  this  same  period.  Hesiod  of  Boeotia  lived  about 
800  B.C.  He  wove  together  into  a  long  poem  old  stories  of 
the  creation  and  of  the  birth  and  relationship  of  the  gods. 
This  Theogony  of  Hesiod  was  the  most  important  single  work 
in  early  Greek  literature,  after  the  Homeric  poems.  Hesiod 
wrote  also  remarkable  home-like  poems  on  farm  life  (Works 
and  Days).^  The  other  writer  was  Tliespis,  who  began  dramatic 
poetry  (plays)  at  Athens,  under  the  patronage  of  Pisistratus. 

156.  Philosophy.  —  In  the  sixth  century,  too,  Greek  phi- 
losophy was  born.  Its  home  was  in  Ionia.  There  first  the 
Greek  mind  set  out  fearlessly  to  explain  the  origin  of  things. 
Thales  of  Miletus,  "  father  of  Greek  philosophy,"  taught  that 
all  things  came  from  Water,  or  moisture.  His  pupil  Anax- 
imenes  called  Air,  not  Water,  the  universal  ''first  principle."' 
Pythagoras  (born  at  Samos,  but  teaching  in  Magna  Graecia) 
sought  the  fundamental  principle,  not  in  any  kind  of  matter, 
but  in  Number,  or  Harmony.  Xenophanes  of  Ionia,  affirmed 
that  the  only  real  existence  was  that  of  God,  one  and  change- 
less—  "not  in  body  like  unto  mortals,  nor  in  mind."  The 
changing  world,  he  said,  did  not  really  exist :  it  was  only  a 
deception  of  men's  senses.  Heracleitus  of  Ephesus,  on  the 
other  hand,  held  that  "  ceaseless  change  "  was  the  very  prin- 
ciple of  things :  the  world,  he  taught,  had  evolved  from  a  fiery 
ether,  and  was  in  constant  flux. 

Some  of  these  explanations  of  the  universe  seem  childish  to 
us.  But  the  great  thing  is  that,  at  last,  men  should  have  begun 
to  seek  for  any  natural  explanation  —  instead  of  putting 
forward  some  suj>e?'natural  explanation.  Accordingly,  this 
early  philosophy  ivas  closely  related   to  early  science.     Thales 

1  This  was  really  a  textbook  on  farming,  —  the  first  textbook  in  Europe. 
Hesiod  wrote  it  in  verse,  because  prose  writing  in  his  day  was  unknown.  The 
earliest  composition  of  any  people  is  usually  in  meter. 


158 


IIKLLAS   FROM    lOOO  TO    ',()()    B.C. 


157 


was  the  lirsfc  (iretrk  to  foretell  eclipses.  (He  could  predict  the 
])eri()d,  but  not  the  precise  day  or  hour.)  Those  who  laughed 
at  philosophers,  liked  to  tell  of  him  that,  while  gazing  at  the 
heavens,  he  fell  into  a  well.  He  may  have  obtained  his  knowl- 
edge of  astronomy  from  Egypt,  which  country  we  know  he 
visited  (§  32).     Anaximander,  another  philosopher  of  Miletus, 


:-:^ 


Wkst  Front  of  the  Parthenon  tu-day.     Doric  style.    See  §  219. 

made  maps  and  globes.  The  Pythagoreans  naturally  paid 
special  attention  to  mathematics  and  especially  to  geometry ; 
and  to  Pythagoras  is  ascribed  the  famous  demonstration  about 
the  square  on  the  hypotenuse  of  a  right  triangle. 

The  Pythagoreans  connected  "  philosophy  "  particularly  with 
conduct.  The  harmony  in  the  outer  world,  they  held,  must 
be  matched  by  a  harmony  in  the  soul  of  man.  Indeed,  all  these 
sages  taught  lofty  moral  truths.  (See  Davis'  Readings,  Vol.  I, 
No.  98.)  Greek  philosophy  lifted  itself  far  above  the  moral 
level  of  Greek  religion. 

157.  Summary  of  the  Five  Centuries.  —  During  the  five  cen- 
turies from  1000  to  500  h.c,  the  Hellenes  had  come  to  think 
of  themselves  as  one  people  (though  not  as  one  nation),  and 


§1-^7] 


ART,    POETRY,   PHILOSOPHY 


159 


had  developed  a  brilliant,  jostling  society.  During  more  than 
half  the  period  they  had  been  busy  sowing  Hellenic  cities 
broadcast  along  even  the  distant  Mediterranean  shores.  They 
had  found  a  capable  military  leadership  in  Sparta.  They  had 
everywhere  rid  themselves  of  the    old    monarchic    rule,  by  a 


West  Frunt  <jf  Tkmplk  ok  Victory  at  Athk.ns. 
,  Ionic  style.     See  §  218. 


From  the  ruins  to-day. 


long  series  of  changes  ;  and,  in  Athens  in  particular,  they  had 
gone  far  toward  creating  a  true  democracy.  Toward  the  close 
of  the  period,  they  had  experienced  an  artistic  and  intellectual 
development  irhich  made  their  civilization  nobler  and  more 
promising  than  any  the  world  had  yet  seen.  Moreover,  this  civili- 
zation was  essentially  one  with  our  own.  The  remains  of  Egyptian 
or  Babylonian  sculpture  and  architecture  arouse  our  admiration 
and  interest  as  curiosities ;  but  they  are  foreign  to  us.  With 
the  remains  of  a  Greek  temple,  or  a  fragment  of  a  Greek  poem, 
of  the  year  500,  we  feel  at  home.  It  miffht  have  been  built,  or 
written,  by  our  own  jrople. 


160 


HELL        FROM    1000  TO   r,00  B.C. 


[§  \r>H 


158.  The  following  table  of  date3  shows  the  correspondence  in  time 
of  hsuliiif,'  events  in  the  Oriental  and  the  (Jreek  world  down  to  the  jjeriod 
when  tiie  two  worlds  eonie  into  close  relations.  Down  to  about  800,  dates 
are  nio.stly  estimates  (§  J^l).  This  tabic  is  not  given  to  be  memorized,  but 
merely  to  be  read  and  referred  to. 


11ki,i-as 


B.C. 


3600  Rising  Aegean  "New  Stone  " 
culture 


2500  Bronze  culture  in  Crete  and 
other  Aegean  centers 

2600  or  2400  Destruction  of  Schlie- 
mann's  "Ti-oy  "  (the  "  Sec- 
ond City  ") 


2000  (?)  "  Minos  of  Crete  " 


1600   Phoenicians  in  the  Aegean 
1500-1200  Achaean  conquests 
1500   Destruction  of  Knossos 


1300 
1200 


1100 


Destruction  of  Mycenae 
Destruction      of      Homer's 

"Troy"      (the     "  Si.xth 

City") 
Homeric  Poems 


The  East 

/i.e. 

6000  Records  of  advanced  Bronze 
cultures  in  valleys  of  Nile 
and  Euphrates 

3400-2400  "Old  Kingdom"  in 
Egypt,  centered  at  Mem- 
phis ;  Menes  ;  Cheops  ; 
pyramids 

2800  Sargon :  empire  from  Eu- 
phrates to  Mediterranean 

2400-2000  "Middle  Kingdom"  in 
Egypt,  centered  at  Thebes : 
Lake  Moeris ;  Red  Sea 
canal ;  commerce  with  Crete 

2234  Beginning  of  recorded  astro- 
nomical observations  at 
Babylon  (§49) 

2000   Abraham  emigrates  from  Ur 

2000-1600  Egyptian  Decline  :  Hyk- 
sos  ;  Hebrews  enter  Egj'pt 

1917  (?)  Hammurabi: /'First Bab- 
ylonian" Empire;  volumi- 
nous cuneiform  literature 

1600-1330  "New  Empire"  in 
Egypt 

1475  Egyptian  brief  conquest  of  the 
East:  Jirst  union  of  the 
Oriental  world 

1320   Hebrew  exodus 


1100  Beginnings  of  Assyrian  Em- 
pire —  Tiglath-PUeser  I 


§158] 


HELL 


IN  J     THE  EAST 


161 


HKi.r.As  {coiitiniied) 

1000   Dorian  conquests 
000    Rise  of  Sparta 
000-800    Ionian  colonization 
800-650   Greek      colonization      of 

Mediterranean  coasts 
776   First  recorded  Olympiad 

700-500   "  Age  of  Tyrants  " 

650-500    "Lyric  Age" 

594-593   Solon's  reforms 


560-527   Pisistratus 


610   Expulsion    of    Tyrants    from 
Athens 


The  East  (continued) 

1055-975   David  and  Solomon 
1000  (?)    Zoroaster 

850  (?)    Carthage  founded 


745  True  Assyrian  Empire  —  Tig- 
lath-Pileser  II 

722  Sargon  carries  the  Ten  Tribes 
of  Israel  into  captivity 

672  Assyria  conquers  Egj'pt :  sec- 
ond union  of  Oriental  loorld 

653-525  Last  period  of  Egyptian 
independence  —  open  to 
Greeks ;  visits  by  Solon  and 
Thales ;  circumnavigation 
of  Africa 

650  (?)    First  coinage,  in  Lydia 

630   Scythian  ravages 

625-538  Second  Babylonian  Em- 
pire :  Babylonian  captivity 
of  the  Jews 

556   Croesus,  king  in  Lydia 

558-529  Cyrus  the  Great  founds 
Persian  Empire  —  thii'd  un- 
ion of  the  Oriental  World 


500  Ionian  Revolt  (§§  164,  165) 
(Eastern  and  Western  civilizations  in  conflict) 


For  Further  Reading.  —  Specially  suggested:  (1)  Davis'  Read- 
ings, Vol.  I,  Nos.  40-56.  These  very  nearly  fit  in  with  the  order  of 
treatment  in  this  book,  and  several  numbers  have  been  referred  to  in 
footnotes.  It  is  desirable  for  students  each  day  to  consult  the  Head- 
ings, to  see  whether  they  can  find  there  more  light  on  the  lesson  in  this 
book. 

(2)  Bury  (on  colonization),  86-106,  116-117  ;  (on  Sparta),  120-134; 
(on  '^^  Lycurgus^^),  134-135;  (on  certain  tyrants),  149-155;  (oracles 
and  festivals),  169-161  ;  (work  of  Solon),  180-189. 


162  HELl.        FROM    1000  TO   500   B.C.  [§  158 

KxKKcisK.  —  DistiiiKuish  between  Sparta  and  Laconia.  How  did  the 
relation  of  Thebes  to  Bomtia  differ  from  that  of  Sparta  to  Laconia? 
Wiiich  of  these  two  relations  was  most  like  that  of  Athcnn  to  AttAca  f 
Have  you  any  buildings  in  your  city  in  which  (ireek  columns  are  used? 
Of  which  order,  in  each  case  ?  (Take  several  leading  buildings  in  a  large 
town.)  Explain  the  following  terms:  constitution;  Helot;  P^upatrid ; 
tyrant ;  Lycurgus  ;  Clisthenes  ;  Areopagus  ;  archon  ;  deme  ;  clan  ;  tribe  ; 
a  "  tribe  of  Clisthenes." 

(To  explain  a  term,  in  such  an  exercise,  is  to  make  such  statements 
concerning  it  as  will  at  lea.st  prevent  the  term  being  confused  with  any 
other.  Thus  if  the  term  is  Solon,  it  will  not  do  to  say,  "  A  Greek  law- 
giver," or  "  A  lawgiver  of  the  sixth  century  b.c."  'ITie  answer  must  at 
least  say,  "  An  Athenian  lawgiver  of  about  600  b.c."  ;  and  it  ought  to  say, 
"An  Athenian  lawgiver  and  dpmocratic  reformer  of  about  600  b.c." 
Either  of  the  first  two  answers  is  worth  zero.) 


CHAPTER   XII 

THE   PERSIAN   WARS 

We  have  now  reached  a  point  where  the  details  of  Greek 
history  are  better  known,  and  where  a  more  connected  story  is 
possible.     This  story  begins  with  the  Persian  Wars. 

THE   TWO   ANTAGONISTS 

159.  Persia.  —  In  §§69-77,  we  saw  how  —  within  a  time 
no  longer  than  an  average  human  life  —  Persia  had  stretched 
its  rule  over  the  territory  of  all  former  Oriental  empires, 
besides  adding  vast  regions  before  unknown.  By  500  B.C. 
(the  period  to  which  we  have  just  carried  Greek  history), 
Persia  reached  into  the  peninsula  of  Hindoostan  in  Asia, 
and,  across  Thrace,  up  to  the  Greek  peninsula  in  Europe 
(map,  after  page  84).  On  this  western  frontier  lay  the  scat- 
tered groups  of  Greek  cities,  bustling  and  energetic,  but  small 
and  disunited.  Tlie  mirjhti/  world-emj^ire  now  advanced  con- 
fidently to  add  these  little  cDinmunitips  to  its  dominions. 

Persia,  in  many  ways,  was  the  noblest  of  the  Asiatic  empires ;  but 
its  civilization  was  distinctly  Oriental  ( with  the  general  character  that 
has  been  noted  in  §§  8o  ff.).  The  Greek  cities,  between  looo  and  500  B.C.. 
had  created  a  wholly  different  sort  of  culture,  which  we  call  European, 
or  Western  (§§  82,  86).  East  and  West  now  joined  battle.  The  Persian 
attack  upon  Greece  began  a  contest  between  two  worlds,  which  has  gone 
on,  at  times,  ever  since.  —  with  the  present  •■  Eastern  Question  "  and  our 
Philippine  question  for  latest  chapters. 

160.  Three  sections  of  Hellas  were  prominent  in  power  and 
culture:  the  European  peuinsida,  which  we  commonly  call 
Greece;  Asiatic  Jlellas,  with  its  coast  islands;  and  Sicily  and 
Magna  Graecia  (§  122).  Elsewhere,  the  cities  were  too  scat- 
tered, or  too  small,  or  too  busy  with  their  own  defense  against 

163 


164  Tl IK    CREEKS  — PERSIAN  WARS  (§161 

suiioiuiding  savages,  to  count  for  much  in  tlie  approaching 
coutest.  Asiatic  Hellas  foil  easily  to  Persia  before  the  real 
struggle  began.  Then  the  two  other  sections  were  attacked 
simultaneously,  Greece  by  Persia,  Sicily  by  Carthage. 

Carthage  was  a  Phoenician  colony  on  the  north  coast  of 
Africa  (see  map  after  page  132).  It  had  built  up  a  consider- 
able empire  in  the  western  Mediterranean ;  and,  in  Sicily,  it 
had  already,  from  time  to  time,  come  into  conflict  with  Greek 
colonies.  Sicily  was  an  important  point  from  which  to  control 
Mediterranean  trade.  Carthage  now  made  a  determined  at- 
tempt to  drive  out  her  rivals  there. 

The  Greeks  believed  that  the  Persian  king  urged  Carthage 
to  take  this  time  for  attack,  so  that  Magna  Graecia  and  Sicily 
might  not  be  able  to  join  the  other  Greeks  in  resisting  the 
main  attack  from  Persia.  At  all  events,  such  was  the  result. 
The  Greek  cities  in  Sicily  and  Italy  were  ruled  by  tyrants. 
These  rulers  united  under  Gelon  of  Syracuse,  and  repelled 
the  Carthaginian  onset.  But  the  struggle  kept  the  Western 
Greeks  from  helping  their  kinsmen  against  the  Persians. 

161.  Conditions  in  Greece  itself  at  this  critical  moment  were 
unpromising.  The  forces  that  could  be  mustered  against  the 
master  of  the  world  were  small  at  best;  but  just  noAv  they 
were  further  divided  and  wasted  in  internal  struggles.  Athens 
was  at  war  with  Aegina  and  with  Thebes  ;  Sparta  had  re- 
newed an  ancient  strife  with  Argos  (§  96),  and  had  crippled 
her  for  a  generation  by  slaying  in  one  battle  almost  the  whole 
body  of  adult  Argives.^  Phocis  was  engaged  in  war  with 
Thessalians  on  one  side  and  Boeotians  on  the  other.  "Worse 
than  all  this,  many  cities  were  torn  by  cruel  class  strife  at 

1  The  old  men  and  boys,  however,  were  still  able  to  defend  Argos  itself 
against  Spartan  attack.  This  touches  an  important  fact  in  Greek  war- 
fare :  a  walled  city  could  hardly  be  taken  by  assault ;  it  could  fall  only 
through  extreme  carelessness,  or  by  treachery,  or  starvation.  The  last 
danger  did  not  often  exist.  The  armies  of  the  besiegers  were  made  up  of 
citizens,  not  of  paid  troops;  and  they  could  not  keep  the  field  long  themselves. 
They  were  needed  at  home,  and  it  was  not  easy  for  them  to  secure  food  for  a 
long  siege. 


162] 


THE  ANTAGONISTS 


165 


home,  —  oligarchs  against  democrats.     One  favorable  condition, 
however,  calls  for  attention  (§  lG2j. 

162.  The  Peloponnesian  League.  — In  a  sense,  Sparta  was  the 
head  of  Greece.  She  lacked  the  enterprise  and  daring  that 
were  to  make  Athens  the  city  of  the  coming  century ;  but  her 
government  was 
firm,  her  army  was 
large  and  disci- 
plined, and  so  far 
she  had  shown 
more  genius  than 
any  other  Greek 
state  in  organizing 
her  neighbors  into 
a  military  league. 
Two  fifths  of  the 
Peloponnesus  she 
ruled  directly  (La- 
conia  and  Mes- 
senia),  and  the 
rest  (except  Argo- 
lis  and  Achaea)  formed  a  confederacy  for  war,  with  Sparta  as 
the  head. 

It  is  true  the  union  was  very  slight.  On  special  occasions, 
at  the  call  of  Sparta,  the  states  sent  delegates  to  a  conference 
to  discuss  peace  or  war ;  but  there  was  no  constitution,  no 
common  treasury,  not  even  a  general  treaty  to  bind  the  states 
together.  Indeed,  one  city  of  the  league  sometimes  made  war 
upon  another.  Each  state  was  bound  to  Sparta  by  its  special 
treaty ;  and,  if  Sparta  was  attacked  by  an  enemy,  each  city  of 
the  "  league  "  was  expected  to  maintain  a  certain  number  of 
troops  for  the  confederate  army.  Loose  as  this  Peloponnesian 
league  was,  it  was  the  greatest  war  power  in  Hellas ;  and  it 
seemed  the  one  rallying  point  for  disunited  Greece  in  the  coming 
struggle  (§  180,  close).  Except  for  the  presence  of  this  war 
power,  few  other  Greeks  would  have  dared  to  resist  Persia  at  all. 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  LEAGUE 
(500  B.C.) 


166  Till-;    CIMOKKS       PKUSIAX   WARS  (§  KKi 

opKNiNc;  HF   riiK  s'i'i{r(;(;M':  in  ionia 

163.  Conquest  of  the  Ionian  Greeks.  —  Vov  two  centuries  before 
500  B.C.,  the  Asiatic  Hellenes  excelled  all  other  branches  of 
the  Greek  race  in  culture.  Unfortunately  for  them,  the  em- 
pire of  Lydia  arose  near  them.  That  great  state  was  un- 
willing to  be  shut  off  from  the  Aegean  by  the  Greek  cities, 
and  it  set  out  to  C()n(|uer  them.  For  some  time,  the  little  Greek 
states  kept  their  independence ;  but  when  the  energetic  Croesus 
(§  70)  became  king  of  Lydia,  he  subdued  all  the  cities  on  the 
coast  of  Asia  Minor.  Croesus,  however,  was  a  warm  admirer 
of  the  Greeks,  and  his  rule  over  them  was  gentle.  They  were 
expected  to  acknowledge  him  as  their  over-lord  and  to  pay  a 
small  tribute  in  money  ;  but  they  were  left  to  manage  their  own 
affairs  at  home,  and  were  favored  in  many  ways. 

When  Cyrus  the  Persian  attacked  Croesus  (§  72),  the 
Asiatic  Greeks  fought  gallantly  for  Lydia.  After  the  over- 
throw of  Croesus,  they  tried  to  come  to  terms  with  Cyrus. 
Cyrus  was  angry  because  they  had  refused  his  invitations 
to  join  him  in  the  war,  and  he  would  make  them  no  promises. 
Fearing  severe  punishment,  they  made  a  brief  struggle  for 
independence.  They  applied,  in  vain,  to  Sparta  for  aid.  Then 
Thales  (§  156)  suggested  a  federation  of  all  Ionia,  with  one  gov- 
ernment and  one  army  ;  but  the  (rreeks  could  not  rise  to  so  wise 
a  plan  (cf.  §  104).  So  the  Ionian  cities  fell,  one  by  one,  before 
the  arms  of  Cyrus ;  and  under  Persian  despotism  their  old 
leadership  in  civilization  soon  vanished, 

164.  The  "Ionian  Revolt,"  500  B.C.  —  The  Persian  conquest 
took  place  about  540  n.v.  Before  that  time  the  lonians  had 
begun  to  get  rid  of  tyrants.  But  the  Persians  set  up  a  tyrant 
again  in  each  city,  as  the  easiest  means  of  control,  (This 
shows  something  of  what  would  have  happened  in  Greece  itself, 
if  Persia  had  Avon  in  the  approaching  war.)  Each  tyrant  knew 
that  he  could  keep  his  power  only  by  Persian  support. 

In  the  year  500,  by  a  general  rising,  the  lonians  deposed 
their  tyrants  once  more,  formed  an  alliance  with  one  another, 


§  165]  THE   FIRST  ATTACK  167 

and  broke  into  revolt  against  Persia.  Another  appeal  to 
Sparta  ^  for  help  proved  fruitless ;  but  Athens  sent  twenty 
ships,  and  little  Eretria  sent  live.  "  These  ships,"  says  Herod- 
otus, "  were  the  beginnings  of  woes,  both  to  the  Greeks  and  to 
the  barbarians." 

At  first  the  lonians  and  their  allies  were  successful.  They 
even  took  Sardis,  the  old  ca})ital  of  Tjydia,  far  in  the  interior, 
liut  treachery  and  mutual  suspicion  were  rampant ;  Persian 
gold  was  used  skillfully ;  and  one  defeat  broke  up  the  loose 
Ionian  league.  Then  the  cities  were  again  subdued,  one  by 
one,  in  the  five  years  following. 

FIRST   TWO   ATTACKS    UPON   THE    EUROPEAN  GREEKS 
(492-190   B.C.) 

165.  What  was  the  relation  of  the  Ionian  Revolt  to  the  Persian 
invasion  of  Greece?  According  to  legend,  the  Persian  king 
attacked  Greece  to  punish  Athens  for  sending  aid  to  the 
Ionian  rebels.  Herodotus  says  that  Darius  (§  76)  Avas  so 
angered  by  the  sack  of  Sardis  that,  during  the  rest  of  his 
life,  he  had  a  herald  cry  out  to  him  thrice  each  day  at  dinner, 
—  "0  King,  remember  the  Athenians !  "  This  story  has  the 
appearance  of  a  later  invention,  to  flatter  Athenian  vanity. 
Probably  Athens  was  pointed  out  for  special  vengeance,  by  her 
aid  to  Ionia;  but  the  Persian  invasion  icould  have  come,  anywajj, 
and  it  would  have  come  some  years  sooner,  had  not  the  war  in 
Ionia  kept  the  Persians  busy. 

The  expanding  frontier  of  the  Persian  empire  had  reached 

1  The  story  of  the  appeal  to  Sparta  is  told  pleasantly  by  Herodotus  (ex- 
tract in  Davis'  ReiuVniyx,  Vol.  I,  No.  .")?).  It  should  be  made  a  topio  for  a 
special  report  by  some  student  to  the  class.  (This  seems  a  good  place  to  call  the 
attention  of  teachers  to  one  feature  of  the  present  textbook.  The  story  just 
referred  to  might  easily  be  put  into  tlie  text ;  but  it  would  take  up  much  space : 
and  though  interesting,  it  has  little  historical  value.  At  least,  it  is  in  noway 
essential  for  understanding  the  rest  of  the  history.  More  important  still, — 
any  student  who  has  Herodotus  accessible  can  tell  the  story  as  well  as  this 
book  could  do  it.  Tliix  is  the  kind  of  outside  reading  that  any  student  likes 
to  do,  and  a  kind  that  any  student  is  perfectly  able  to  do.) 


168  THE   GREEKS  — PERSIAN   WARS  [§  166 

Tliessaly  jdst  befoi'O  500  n.c,  and  the  .same  motives  that  had 
carried  INu'sian  arms  tlirough  Thrace  and  Macedonia  would 
liave  carried  tlicm  on  into  Greece.  Persia  was  still  in  full 
career  of  conf^uest.  The  Greek  jjeninsula  was  small;  but  its 
cities  were  becoming  wealthy,  and  I'csrsia  coveted  them  for 
their  ships  and  their  trade.  The  real  svjnijicance  of  the  Ionian 
war  inas  that  it  helped  to  delay  the  main  Persian  onset  until  the 
Greeks  loere  better  jyrejxired.  Tlie  Athenians  had  been  vnse,  as 
tvell  as  gevcroiis,  in  aiding  the  lonians. 

166.  First  Expedition  against  Greece,  492  b.c.  Mount  Athos.  — 
Immediately  after  the  end  of  the  Ionian  revolt  Darhis  began 
vast  preparations  for  the  invasion  of  Greece.  A  mighty  army 
was  gathered  at  the  Hellespont  under  3fardonius,  son-in-law  of 
the  king;  and  a  large  fleet  was  collected.  This  was  to  sail 
along  the  coast,  in  constant  touch  with  the  army,  and  furnish 
it,  day  by  day,  with  provisions  and  other  supplies.  In  492, 
these  forces  set  out,  advancing  along  the  shores  of  the  Aegean. 
But  the  army  suffered  from  constant  attacks  by  the  savage 
Thracian  tribes;  and  finally,  as  the  fleet  was  rounding  the  rocky 
promontory  of  Mount  Athos,  a  terrible  storm  dashed  it  to 
pieces.  With  it  were  wrecked  all  hopes  of  success.  Mardonius 
had  no  choice  but  to  retreat  into  Asia. 

167.  Second  Expedition,  490  b.c.  Marathon.  —  This  failure 
filled  Darius  with  wrath.  Such  a  check  in  an  expedition 
against  the  petty  Greek  states  was  wholly  unexpected.  Mar- 
donius, though  an  able  general,  was  disgraced,  and  preparations 
were  begun  for  a  new  expedition. 

Meantime,  in  491,  heralds  were  sent  to  all  the  Greek  cities 
to  demand  "  earth  and  water,"  in  token  of  submission.  The 
islands  in  the  Aegean  yielded  at  once.  In  continental  Greece 
the  demand  was  in  general  quietly  refused  ;  but,  in  Athens  and 
Sparta,  indignation  ran  so  high  that  even  the  sacred  character 
of  ambassadors  did  not  save  the  messengers.  At  Athens  they 
were  thrown  into  a  pit,  and  at  Sparta  into  a  well,  and  told  to 
"  take  thence  what  they  wanted." 

In  the  spring  of  490,  the  Persians  were  ready  for  the  second 


§  167]  THE   SECOND   ATTACK  169 

expedition.  This  time,  taking  warning  from  the  disaster  at 
Mount  Athos,  the  troops  were  embarked  on  a  mighty  fleet, 
which  proceeded  directly  across  the  Aegean.  Stopping  only 
to  receive  the  submission  of  certain  islands  by  the  Avay,  the 
fleet  reached  the  island  of  Euboea  without  a  check. 

There  Eretria  (§  164)  was  captured,  through  treachery.  The 
city  was  destroyed,  and  most  of  the  people  were  sent  in  chains 
to  Persia.  Then  the  Persians  landed  on  the  plain  of  Marathon 
in  Attica,  to  punish  Athens.  Hippias,  the  exiled  tyrant 
(§  147),  was  with  the  invaders,  hoping  to  get  back  his  throne 
as  a  servant  of  Persia ;  and  he  had  pointed  out  this  admirable 
place  for  disembarking  the  Persian  cavalry. 

At  first  most  of  the  Athenians  wished  to  fight  only  behind 
their  walls.  Sooner  or  later,  this  must  have  resulted  in  ruin, 
especially  as  there  were  some  traitors  within  the  city  hoping 
to  admit  Hippias.  Happily  3Iiltiades,  one  of  the  ten  Generals 
(§  152),  persuaded  the  commanders  to  march  out  and  attack 
the  Persians  at  once.^ 

From  the  rising  ground  where  the  hills  of  Mount  Pentelicus 
meet  the  plain,  the  ten  thousand  Athenian  hoplites  faced  the 
Persian  host  for  the  first  struggle  between  Greeks  and  Asiatics 
on  European  ground.  Sparta  had  promised  aid;  and,  at  the 
first  news  of  the  Persian  approach,  a  swift  runner  (Phidippi- 
des)  had  raced  the  hundred  and  fifty  miles  of  rugged  hill 
country  to  implore  Sparta  to  hasten.  He  reached  Sparta  on 
the  second  day  ;  but  the  Spartans  waited  a  week,  on  the  ground 
that  an  old  law  forbade  them  to  set  out  on  a  military  expedi- 
tion before  the  full  moon.  The  Athenians  felt  bitterly  that 
Sparta  was  ready  to  look  on,  not  unwillingly,  while  the 
"second  city  in  Greece"  was  destroyed. 

At  all  events,  Athens  was  left  to  save  herself  (and  our 
Western  world)  as  best  she  could,  with  help  from  only  one  city. 
This  was  heroic  little  Plataea,  in  Boeotia,  near  by.  Athens 
had  sometimes  protected  the  democratic  government  of  that 

1  This  story  should  be  read  in  Herodotus,  or,  even  better  in  some  ways, 
iu  tlie  extracts  iu  Davis'  Readings,  with  Dr.  Davis'  admirable  iutroductious. 


170 


THE    r, REEKS  — PERSIAN   WARS 


(§  107 


city  from  attack  l»y  tlic  powerful  olif(arclis  of  Thebes.  The 
JMatacaiis  rcuH'iiilx'rtMl  tliis  gratefully,  and,  on  tlie  eve  of 
the  battle,  inarclicd  into  the  Athenian  (;ani])  with  their  full 
force  of  a  thousand  ho|»lites.  Then  Atlu-nians  and  Plataeans 
won  a  marvelous  victory  over  pei-haps  ten  times  their  number' 
of  the  most  famous  soldiery  in  tlie  world.  The  result  was  due 
to  the  generalship  of  Miltiades,  and  to  the  superior  equipment 
of  the  Gi'eek  hoidite. 

Miltiades  drew  out  his  front  as  tliin  as  he  dared,  to  prevent 
the  long  Persian  front  from  overlajjping  and  "flanking"  him. 

To  accomplish  this,  he 
weakened  his  center  dar- 
ingly, so  as  to  mass  all  the 
men  he  could  spare  from' 
there  in  the  v)ings.  He 
meant  these  Avings  to  bear 
the  brunt  of  battle,  and 
ordered  them  to  advance 
more  rapidly  than  the  thin 
center.  Then  he  moved 
his  forces  down  the  slope 
toward  the  Persian  lines. 
While  yet  an  arrow's  flight  distant,  the  advancing  Greeks  broke 
into  a  run,  according  to  Miltiades'  orders,  so  as  to  cover  the  rest 
of  the  ground  before  the  Persian  archers  could  get  in  their 
deadly  work.  Once  at  close  quarters,  the  heavy  weapons  of 
the  Greeks  gave  them  overwhelming  advantage.  Their  dense, 
heavy  array,  charging  with  long,  outstretched  spears,  by  its 
sheer  weight  broke  the  light-armed  Persian  lines,  which  were 


^-^0[aratliiin 


Plan  of  Marathon.     Cf.  niaji,  paji*-  ISO. 


1  The  figures,  on  the  next  page,  for  the  slain,  are  probably  trustworthy ;  but 
all  numbers  given  for  the  Persian  army,  in  this  or  other  campaigns,  are 
guesses.  Axicient  historians  put  the  Persians  at  Marathon  at  from  a  quarter 
to  half  a  million.  Modern  scholars  are  sure  that  no  ancient  fleet  could  possi- 
bly carry  any  considerable  part  of  such  a  force,  —  and,  indeed,  it  is  clear  that 
the  ancient  authorities  had  no  basis  for  their  figures.  Modern  guesses  — 
they  are  nothing  better  —  put  the  Persian  force  at  Marathon  all  the  way  from 
KXl.OOO  down  to  20,000. 


§1(37] 


THE   SECOND   ATTACK 


171 


utterly  unprepared  for  conflict  on  such  terms.  The  Persians 
fought  gallantly,  as  usual;  but  their  darts  and  light  scimetars-< — 
made  little  impression  upon  the  heavy  bronze  armor  of  the 
Greeks,  while  their  linen  tunics  and  wicker  shields  counted  for 
little  against  the  thrust  of  the  Greek  spear.  For  a  time,  it 
is  true,   the  Greek  center  had  to  give  ground ;     but  the  two 


Makathon  To-day. —  From  a  photograph.  The  i-amera  stood  a  little  above 
the  Athenian  camp  in  the  Plan  on  the  opposite  page.  That  camp  was  in 
the  tirst  open  space  in  the  foreground,  where  the  poplar  trees  are  scattered. 
The  land  beyond  the  strip  of  water  is  the  narrow  peninsula  running  out 
from  the  "  Marsh  "  in  the  Plan. 


wings,  having  routed  the  forces  in  front  of  them,  wheeled 
upon  the  Persian  center,  crushing  upon  both  flanks  at  the 
same  moment,  and  drove  it  in  disorder  to  the  ships.  One 
hundred  ninety-two  Athenians  fell.  Tlie  Persians  left  over 
sixty-four  hundred  dead  upon  tlie  held. 

The  Athenians  tried  also  tu  seize  the  fleet;  but  here  they 
were  repulsed.  The  Persians  endiarked  and  sailed  safely  away. 
They  took  a  course  that  might  lead  to  Athens.     Moreover,  the 


172  THE   GREEKS  — PERSIAN  WARS  [§168 

Greek  army  had  just  seen  sun-signals  flashing  to  the  enemy 
from  some  traitor's  shield  in  the  distant  mountains  ;  and  Mil- 
tiades  feared  them  to  be  an  invitation  to  attack  the  city  in  the 
absence  of  the  army.  To  check  such  plots,  he  sent  the  runner 
Phidippides  to  announce  the  victory  to  Athens.  Already  ex- 
hausted by  the  battle,  Phidippides  put  forth  supreme  effort, 
raced  the  twenty-two  miles  of  mountain  road  from  Marathon, 
shouted  exultantly  to  the  eager,  anxious  crowds,  —  "  Ours  the 
victory,"  —  and  fell  dead.^ 

Meanwhile  Miltiades  was  hurrying  the  rest  of  his  wearied 
army,  without  rest,  over  the  same  road.  Fortunately  the 
Persian  fleet  had  to  sail  around  a  long  promontory  (map, 
page  180),  and  when  it  appeared  off  Athens,  the  next  morn- 
ing, Miltiades  and  his  hoplites  had  arrived  also.  The 
Persians  did  not  care  to  face  again  the  men  of  Marathon  ; 
and  the  same  day  they  set  sail  for  Asia.^ 

168.  Importance  of  Marathon. —  Merely  as  a  military  event 
Marathon  is  an  unimportant  skirmish  ;  but,  in  its  results  upon 
human  welfare,  it  is  among  the  few  really  "  decisive  "  battles 
of  the  world.  Whether  Egyptian  conquered  Babylonian,  or 
Babylonian  conquered  Egyptian,  mattered  little  in  the  long  run. 
Possibly,  whether  Spartan  or  Athenian  prevailed  over  the 
other  mattered  not  much  more.  But  it  did  matter  whether 
or  not  the  huge,  inert  East  should  crush  the  new  life  out  of 
the   West.     Marathon  decided  that  the  West  should  live  on. 

For  the  Athenians  themselves,  Marathon  began  a  new  era. 
Natural  as  the  victory  came  to  seem  in  later  times,  it  took  high 
courage  on  that  day  to  stand  before  the  hitherto  unconquered 
Persians,  even  without  such  tremendous  odds.  "The  Athe- 
nians," says  Herodotus,  "  were  the  first  of  the  Greeks  to  face 

iThe  student  will  like  to  read,  or  to  hear  read,  Browning's  poem,  Pheidip- 
pides,  with  the  story  of  both  runs  by  this  Greek  hero.  Compare  this  story 
with  Herodotus'  account  in  Davis'  Readings,  Vol.  I,  No.  59.  The  famous 
run  from  the  battlefield  to  the  city  is  the  basis  of  the  modern  "  Marathon" 
race,  in  which  champion  athletes  of  all  countries  compete. 

2 The  full  story  of  this  battle  should  be  read  as  Herodotus  tells  it.  It  is 
given  in  Davis'  Readings,  Vol.  I,  Xos.  59,  60. 


§  169]  AN   INTERVAL  OF  PREPARATION  173 

the  ]\[edian  garments,  .  .  .  whereas  up  to  this  time  the  very 
name  of  Mede  [Persian]  had  been  a  terror  to  the  Hellenes." 
Athens  broke  the  spell  for  the  rest  of  Greece,  and  grew  herself  to 
heroic  stature  in  an  hour.  The  sons  of  the  men  who  conquered 
on  that  field  could  find  no  odds  too  crushing,  no  prize  too 
dazzling,  in  the  years  to  come.  It  was  now  that  the  Athenian 
character  first  showed  itself  as  Thucydides  described  it  a  century 
later :  "  The  Athenians  are  the  only  people  who  succeed  to 
the  full  extent  of  their  hope,  because  they  throw  themselves  loith- 
out  reserve  into  ivhatever  they  resolve  to  do." 

ATHENS  — FROM  MARATHON  TO  THERMOPYLAE 

169.  Internal  Faction  Crushed.  —  Soon  after  Marathon,  Egypt 
revolted  against  Persia.  This  gave  the  Greeks  ten  years  more  for 
preparation ;  but,  except  in  Athens,  little  use  was  made  of  the 
interval.  In  that  city  the  democratic  forces  grew  stronger 
and  more  united,  while  the  oligarchs  were  weakened. 

One  incident  in  this  change  was  the  ruin  of  Miltiades,  the 
hero  of  Marathon.  Miltiades  was  originally  an  Athenian  noble 
who  had  made  himself  tyrant  of  Chersonesus  (map  after 
page  94).  Not  long  before  the  Persian  invasion,  he  had 
brought  upon  himself  the  hatred  of  the  Great  King,^  and  had 
,  fled  back  to  Athens.  Here  he  became  at  once  a  prominent 
supporter  of  the  oligarchic  party.  The  democrats  tried  to 
prosecute  him  for  his  previous  "  tyranny " ;  but  the  attempt 
failed,  and  when  the  Persian  invasion  came,  the  Athenians 
Avere  fortunate  in  having  his  experience  and  ability  to  guide 
them.  Soon  after  Marathon,  however,  Miltiades  failed  in  an 
expedition  against  Paros,  into  which  he  had  persuaded  the 
Athenians ;  and  then  the  hostile  democracy  secured  his 
overthrow.  He  was  condemned  to  pay  an  immense  fine,  and 
is  said  to  have  died  soon  afterward  in  prison. 

This  bloiv  ivas  followed  by  the  ostracism  of  some  oligarchic 
leader  each  season  for  several  years,  until  that  party  was  utterly 

1  Report  the  story  from  Herodotus,  if  a  translation  is  accessible. 


174  TIIK   (JRKKKS      PERSIAN    WARS  [§170 

hrokcM.     Thus  Athens  was  saved  from  its  most  serious  inter- 
nal dissension. 

170.  Themistocles  makes  Athens  a  Naval  Power.  —The  victo- 
rious demoerats  at  ohm;  divided  into  new  parties.  The  more 
moderate  s(^ction  was  content  with  the  constitution  of  Clis- 
thenes  and  was  disposed  to  follow  old  customs.  Its  leader 
was  Aristkles^  a  calm,  conservative  man,  surnamed  "  the  Just." 
The  radical  wing,  favoring  new  methods  and  further  change, 
was  led  by  Themistocles.  Themistocles  was  sometimes  less 
scrupulous  and  upright  than  Aristides,  but  he  was  one  of  the 
most  resourceful  and  far-sighted  statesmen  of  all  history. 

Themistocles  desired  passionately  one  great  departure  from 
])ast  custom  in  Athenian  affairs.  He  wished  to  make  Athens 
a  naval  })ower.  He  saw  dead;/  that  the  real  struggle  icith  Persia 
was  yet  to  come,  and  that  the  result  could  be  decided  by  victory  on 
the  sea.  Such  victory  was  more  probable  for  the  Greeks  than 
victory  on  land.  Huge  as  the  Persian  empire  was,  it  had  no 
seacoast  except  Egypt,  Phoenicia,  and  Ionia.  It  could  not, 
therefore,  so  vastly  outnumber  the  Greeks  in  ships  as  in  men  ; 
and  if  the  Greeks  could  secure  command  of  the  sea,  Persia 
would  be  unable  to  attack  them  at,  all. 

But  this  proposed  naval  policy  for  Athens  broke  with  all 
tradition,  and  could  not  win  without  a  struggle.  Seafarers 
though  the  Greeks  were,  up  to  this  time  they  had  not  used 
ships  much  in  war.  Attica,  in  particular,  had  almost  no  navy. 
The  party  of  Aristides  wished  to  hold  to  the  old  policy  of 
lighting  on  land,  and  they  had  the  glorious  victory  of  jNIarathon 
to  strengthen  their  arguments.  Feeling  ran  high.  Finally, 
in  483,  the  leaders  agreed  to  let  a  vote  of  ostracism  decide 
between  them.  Fortunately,  Aristides  was  ostracized  (§  153), 
and  for  some  years  the  influence  of  Themistocles  was  the 
strongest  power  in  Athens. 

While  tlie  voting  was  going  on  (according  to  Herodotus)  a  stupid  fellow, 
who  did  not  know  Aristides,  asked  him  to  write  the  name  Aristides  on  the 
shell  he  was  about  to  vote.  Aristides  did  so.  asking,  however,  what  harm 
Aristides  had  ever  done  the  man.     'SVoharui,"  replied  the  voter;  "in 


§171]  THE  MAIN    ATTACK  175 

ileecl,  I  do  not  know  him;  but  I  am  tired  of  hearing  him  called  'the  Just.' '" 
Head  the  other  anecdotes  about  Aristides  in  Davis"  Biadi)if/s.  Vol.  I,  No.  tU. 

Themistocles  at  once  put  his  new  policy  into  operation. 
Rich  veins  of  silver  had  re(;ently  been  discovered  in  the  mines 
of  Attica.  These  iiiines  hdowjed  to  the  citi/,  and  a  large  reve- 
nue from  them  had  accumulated  in  the  public  treasury.  It 
had  been  proposed  to  divide  the  money  among  the  citizens  : 
but  Themistocles  persuaded  his  countrymen  to  reject  this 
tempting  plan,  and  instead  to  build  a  great  fleet.  Thanks  to 
this  policy,  in  the  next  three  years  Athens  became  the  great- 
est naval  power  in  Hellas.  The  decisive  victory  of  Salamis 
was  to  be  the  result  (§  179). 

THE   THIRD    ATTACK,    480-479   b.c. 

171.  Persian  Preparation.  —  ^Meantime,  happily  for  the  world, 
the  great  Darius  died,  and  the  invasion  of  Greece  fell  to  his 
feebler  son,  Xerxes.  Marathon  had  proved  that  no  Persian 
fleet  by  itself  could  transport  enough  troops ;  so  the  plan  of 
Mardonius'  expedition  (§  IGG)  was  tried  again,  but  upon  a 
larger  scale,  both  as  to  army  and  fleet. 

To  guard  against  another  accident  at  IMt.  Athos,  a  canal  for 
ships  was  cut  through  the  isthmus  at  the  back  of  that  rocky 
headland,  —  a  great  engineering  work  that  took  three  years. 
Meantime,  supplies  were  collected  at  stations  along  the  way ; 
the  Hellespont  was  bridged  with  chains  of  boats  covered  with 
planks  ;  ^  and  at  last,  in  the  spring  of  480,  Xerxes  in  person 
led  a  mighty  host  of  many  nations  into  Europe. 

Ancient  reports  put  the  Asiatics  at  from  one  and  a  half 
million  to  two  million  soldiers,  with  followers  and  attendants 
to  raise  the  total  to  live  millions.  Modern  critics  think 
Xerxes  may  have  had  some  half-million  troops,  with  numerous 
followers.  In  any  case,  the  numbers  vastly  exceeded  those 
which  the  Greeks  could  bring  against  them.  A  fleet  of  twelve 
hundred  ships  accompanied  the  army. 

1  R«ad  Herodotus'  story  of  Xerxes'  wrath  when  the  first  bridge  broke,  and 
how  he  ordered  the  Hellespont  to  be  flogged  (Davis'  Readinys,  Vol.  I,  No.  (>4). 


170  TTTE   CREEKS  — PERSIAN   WARS  (§172 

172.  The  Greek  Preparation.  —  The  danger  forced  the  Greeks 
into  somethiny  like  coiiiinon  action:  into  a  greater  unity,  indeed, 
than  they  had  ever  known.  Sparta  and  Athens  joined  in  call- 
ing a  Hellenic  congress  at  Corinth,  on  the  isthmus,  in  481  b.o. 
The  deputies  that  appeared  bound  their  cities  by  oath  to  aid 
one  another,  and  pledged  their  common  efforts  to  punish  any 
states  that  should  join  Persia.  Ancient  feuds  were  pacified. 
Plans  of  campaign  were  discussed,  and  Sparta  was  formally 
recognized  as  leader.  In  spite  of  Athens'  recent  heroism,  the 
belief  in  Sparta's  invincibility  in  war  was  too  strong  to  permit 
any  other  choice. 

Messengers  were  sent  also  to  implore  aid  from  outlying  por- 
tions of  Hellas,  but  with  little  result.  Crete  excused  herself 
on  a  superstitious  scruple.  Corcyra  promised  a  fleet,  but  took 
care  it  should  not  arrive ;  and  the  Greek  tyrants  in  Sicily  and 
Magna  Graecia  had  their  hands  full  at  home  with  the  Cartha- 
ginian invasion  (§  160).' 

The  outlook  was  full  of  gloom.  Argos,  out  of  hatred  for 
Sparta,  and  Thebes,  from  jealousy  of  Athens,  had  refused  to 
attend  the  congress,  and  were  ready  to  join  Xerxes.  Even  the 
Delphic  oracle,  which  was  of  course  consulted  in  such  a  crisis, 
predicted  ruin  and  warned  the  Athenians  in  particular  to  flee 
to  the  ends  of  the  earth. 

173.  The  Lines  of  Defense.  —  Against  a  laud  attack  the 
Greeks  had  three  lines  of  defense.  The  first  was  at  the  Vale 
of  Tempe  near  Mount  Olympus,  where  only  a  narrow  pass 
opened  into  Thessaly.  The  second  was  at  Thermopylae,  where 
the  mountains  shut  off  northern  from  central  ^  Greece,  except 
for  a  road  only  a  few  feet  in  width.  The  third  was  behind  the 
Isthmus  of  Corinth. 

174.  Plan  of  Campaign. — At  the  congress  at  Corinth  the 
Peloponneslans  had  unshed  selfishly  to  abandon  the  first  tivo  lines. 
They  urged  that  all  patriotic  Greeks  should  retire  at  once 
within  the  Peloponnesus,  the  final  citadel  of  Greece,  and  for- 

1  For  these  terms,  see  map  study,  page  95. 


§  176]  THERMOPYLAE  177 

tify  the  isthmus  by  an  impregnable  wall.  This  plan  was  as 
foolish  as  it  was  selfish.  Greek  troops  might  have  held  the 
isthmus  against  the  Persian  land  army ;  but  the  Pelopon- 
nesus was  ]'eadily  open  to  attack  by  sea,  and  the  Persian  fleet 
would  have  found  it  easier  here  than  at  either  of  the  other 
lines  of  defense  to  land  troo])s  in  the  Greek  rear,  without  losing 
touch  with  its  own  armi/,.  Such  a  surrender  of  two  thirds  of 
Greece,  too,  would  have  meant  a  tremendous  reinforcement  of 
the  enemy  by  excellent  Greek  soldiery.  Accordingly,  it  teas 
finally  decided  to  resist  the  entrance  of  the  Persians  into  Greece 
by  meeting  them  at  the  Vale  of  Tempe. 

175.  The  Loss  of  Thessaly.  —  Sparta,  however,  had  no  gift 
for  going  to  meet  an  attack,  but  must  always  await  it  on  the 
enemy's  terms.  A  hundred  thousand  men  should  have  held 
the  Vale  of  Tempe  ;  but  only  a  feeble  garrison  was  sent  there, 
and  it  retreated  before  the  Persians  appeared.  Through 
Sparta's  incapacity  for  leadership,  Xerxes  entered  Greece 
without  a  blow.  Then  the  Thessalian  cities,  deserted  by  their 
allies,  joined  the  invaders  with  their  i)Owerful  cavalry. 

176.  Thermopylae :  Loss  of  Central  Greece.  —  This  loss  of 
Thessaly  made  it  evident,  even  to  Spartan  statesmen,  that  to 
abandon  central  Greece  would  strengthen  Xerxes  further ;  and 
it  was  decided  in  a  half-hearted  way  to  make  a  stand  at  Ther- 
mopylae. The  pass  was  only  some  twenty  feet  wide  between 
the  cliff  and  the  sea,  and  the  only  other  path  was  one  over  the 
mountain,  equally  easy  to  defend.  Moreover,  the  long  island 
of  Euboea  approached  the  mainland  just  opposite  the  pass,  so 
that  the  Greek  fleet  in  the  nan-ow  strait  could  guard  the  land 
army  against  having  troops  landed  in  the  rear. 

The  Greek  fleet  at  this  place  numbered  270  ships.  Of  these 
the  Athenians  furnished  half.  The  admiral  was  a  Spartan, 
though  his  city  sent  only  sixteen  ships.  The  land  defense  had 
been  left  to  the  Peloponnesiau  league.  This  was  the  supremely 
important  duty  ;  but  the  force,  which  Sparta  had  sent  to  attend 
to  it,  was  shamefully  small.  The  Spartan  king,  Leonidas,  held 
the  pass  with   three   hundred  Spartans  and   a  few  thousand 


178 


THE   GREEKS  — PERSIAN   WARS 


[§176 


allies.      'Ilie  main  force  of  Spartans  was  again  left  at  home,  on 
the  t/roniitt  (fa  rflif/ious  festival. 

The  rersiaiis  reached  Thermopylae  without  a  check.  Battle 
was  joined  at  once  on  land  and  sea,  and  raged  for  three  days. 
Four  hundred  Persian  ships  were  wrecked  in  a  storm,  and  the 
rest  were  clun^ked  hy  the  Greek  fleet  in  a  sternly  contested  cou- 


Thermopylae. 
From  a  photograph :  to  show  the  steepness  of  the  mountain  side. 

flict  at  Artemisium.  On  land,  Xerxes  flung  column  after  col- 
umn of  chosen  troops  into  the  pass,  to  be  beaten  back  each  time 
in  rout.  But  on  the  third  night,  Ephialtes,  'Hhe  Judas  of 
Greece,"  guided  a  force  of  Persians  over  the  mountain  path, 
which  the  Spartaus  had  left  only  slightly  guarded.  Leonidas 
knew  that  he  could  no  longer  hold  his  position.  He  sent 
home  his  allies;  but  he  and  his  three  hundred  Spartans  re- 
mained to  die  in  the  pass  which  their  country  had  given  them 


§  177]  THERMOPYLAE  179 

to  defend.  They  charged  joyously  upon  the  Persian  spears, 
and  fell  fighting,  to  a  nian.^ 

Sparta  had  shown  no  capacity  to  command  in  this  great 
crisis.  Twice  her  shortsightedness  had  caused  the  loss  of 
vital  positions.  But  at  Thermopylae  her  citizens  had  set 
Greece  an  example  of  calm  heroism  that  has  stirred  the  world 
ever  since.  In  later  times  the  burial  place  of  the  Three  Hundred 
was  marked  by  this  inscription,  "  Stranger,  go  tell  at  Sparta 
that  we  lie  here  in  obedience  to  her  command.'' 

177.  Destruction  of  Athens.  —  Xerxes  advanced  on  Athens 
and  was  joined  by  most  of  central  Greece.  The  Theban  oli- 
garchs, in  particular,  welcomed  him  with  genuine  joy.  The 
Peloponnesians  would  risk  no  further  battle  outside  their  own 
peninsula.  They  withdrew  the  army,  and  fell  back  upon  their 
first  plan  of  building  a  wall  across  the  isthmus.  Athens  ivas 
left  oj)e)t  to  Persian  vengeance. 

The  news  threw  that  city  into  uproar  and  despair.  The 
Delphic  oracle  was  appealed  to,  but  it  prophesied  utter  destruc- 
tion. Themistocles  (perhaps  by  bribery)  finally  secured  from 
the  priestess  an  additional  prophecy,  that  when  all  else  was 
destroyed,  "  wooden  walls  "  would  still  defend  the  Athenians. 
Many  citizens  then  wished  to  retire  within  the  wooden  palisade 
of  the  Acropolis;  but  Themistocles,  the  guiding  genius  of  the 
stormy  day,  persuaded  them  that  the  oracle  meant  the  "  wooden 
walls  "  of  their  ships. 

The  Greek  fleet  had  withdrawn  from  Artemisium,  after  the 
Persians  won  the  land  pass  ;  and  the  Spartan  admiral  was 
bent  upon  retiring  at  once  to  the  position  of  the  Peloponnesian 
army,  at  the  isthmus.  P>y  vehement  entreaties,  Themistocles 
persuaded  him  to  hold  the  whole  fleet  for  a  day  or  two  at 
Athens,  to  help  remove  the  women  and  children  and  old  men 
to   Salamis  and  other   near-by   islands.     More   than   200,000 


'One  Spartan,  who  had  been  left  for  dead  by  the  Persians,  afterward  re- 
covered and  returned  home.  But  his  fellow-citizens  treated  him  with  pitying 
contempt  ;  and  at  the  next  great  battle,  he  sought  and  found  death,  fighting 
in  the  front  rank. 


180 


THE   (JHEEKS- I'KKSIAN   WARS 


[§17« 


peo])!*^  liiid  to  1)(!  moved  from  their  homes.  There  was  no  time 
to  save  property.  The  Persians  marched  triumphantly  through 
Attiea,  l)\irning  vilhiges  and  farmsteads,  and  laid  Athens  and 
its  temples  in  aslies. 


G,  the  Greek  fleet  at  Salamis.     PPP,  the  Persian  fleet.     X,  the  Throne 
of  Xerxes.     (The  "  Long  Walls  "  were  not  built  until  later ;  §  200.) 

178.  Strategy  of  Themistocles.  — But  Themistocles,  in  delay- 
ing the  retreat  of  the  fleet,  planned  for  more  than  escape.  Ue 
was  determined  that  the  decisive  battle  should  be  a  sea  battle,  and 
that  it  should  be  fought  lohere  the  fleet  then  lay.  No  other  spot 
so  favorable  could  be  found.  The  narrow  strait  between  the 
Athenian  shore  and  Salamis  would  embarrass  the  Persian  num- 
bers, and  help  to  make  up  for  the  small  numbers  of  the  Greek 
ships.      Themistocles    saw,    too,    that    if  they    withdrew    tc 


178] 


THEMISTOCLES 


181 


Corinth,  as  the  Peloponnesians  insisted,  all  chance  of  united 
action  would  be  lost.  The  fleet  would  break  up.  Some  ships 
would  sail  home  to  defend  their  own  island  cities ;  and  others, 
like  those  of  Megara  and  Aegina,  feeling  that  their  cities  were 
deserted,  might  join  the  Persians. 

The  fleet  had  grown  now  to  378  ships.  The  Athenians 
furnished  200  of  these.  With  wise  and  generous  patriotism, 
they  had  yielded  the  chief  command  to  Sparta,  but  of  course 
Themistocles  carried  weight  in  the  council  of  captains.     It  was 


^^^^^^Bl 

^^^^^m^B^^^^^^^^^^^i^^^H^^P^ 

..i^^HHBi^^^^^^ 

"' T  !■  ■JlWffiii^- ■     -^  r^'^,r,._.    \.:'    "              .--. 

.     '■'•*'■  ■ '-^'^mb/'^Sf^f^:^ 

i^..i:            .-.,                                                                    •.          1 

TnK  Bay  ok  Salamis.      Fiuni  a  photograph. 

he  who,  by  persuasion,  entreaties,  and  bribes,  had  kept  the  navy 
from  abandoning  the  land  forces  at  Thermopylae,  before  the 
sea  fight  off  Artemisium.  A  similar  but  greater  task  now  fell 
to  him.  Debate  waxed  fierce  in  the  all-night  council  of  the 
captains.  Arguments  were  exhausted,  and  Themistocles  had 
recourse  to  threats.  The  Corinthian  admiral  sneered  that  the 
allies  need  not  regard  a  man  who  no  longer  represented  a 
Greek  city.  The  Athenian  retorted  that  he  represented  two 
hundred  ships,  and  could  make  a  city,  or  take  one,  where  he 
chose ;  and,  by  a  threat  to  sail  away  to  found  a  new  Athens  in 
Italy,  he  forced  the  allies  to  remain.  Even  then  the  decision 
would  have  been  reconsidered,  had  not  the  wily  Themistocles 
made  use  of  a  strange  stratagem.     With  pretended  friendship, 


182  THE   GREEKS  — PERSIAN   WARS  [§179 

he  sent  a  secret  message  to  Xerxes,  notify  in<,'  him  of  the  weak- 
ness and  dissensions  of  the  Greeks,  and  advisinf/  Jihn  to  block  up 
the  straits  to  prevent  their  escape. 

Xerxes  took  this  treacherous  advice.  Aristides,  whose  os- 
tracism had  been  revoked  in  the  hour  of  danger,  and  who  now 
slipped  through  the  hostile  fleet  in  his  single  ship  to  join  his 
countrymen,  brought  the  news  that  they  were  surrounded. 
There  was  noiv  no  choice  Jmt  tojirjht. 

179.  The  Battle  of  Salamis.  —  The  Persian  fleet  was  twice 
the  size  of  the  Greek,  and  was  itself  largely  made  up  of  Asiatic 
Greeks,  while  the  Phoenicians  and  Egy])tians,  who  composed 
the  remainder,  were  famous  sailors.  The  conflict  the  next 
day  lasted  from  dawn  to  night,  but  the  Greek  victory  was 
complete. 

"  A  king  sat  on  the  rocky  brow  i 

Which  looks  o'er  sea-born  Salamis  ; 

And  ships  by  thousands  lay  below, 

And  men  in  nations,  —  all  were  his. 

He  counted  them  at  break  of  day, 

And  when  the  sun  set,  where  were  they  ? '' 

Aeschylus,  an  Athenian  poet  who  was  present  in  the  battle, 
gives  a  noble  picture  of  it  in  his  drama,  T7)e  Persians.  The 
speaker  is  a  Persian,  telling  the  story  to  the  Persian  queen- 
mother:  — 

"Not  in  flight 
The  Hellenes  then  their  solemn  paeans  sang, 
But  with  brave  spirits  hastening  on  to  battle. 
With  martial  sound  and  trumpet  fired  those  ranks  : 
And  straight  with  sweep  of  oars  that  flew  thro'  foam, 
They  smote  the  loud  waves  at  the  boatswain's  call  .  .  . 
And  all  at  once  we  heard  a  mighty  shout  — 
'O  sons  of  Hellenes.,  forward,  free  your  country  ; 
Free,  too,  your  wives,  your  children,  and  the  shrines 
Built  to  your  fathers''  Gods,  and  holy  tombs 
Your  ancestors  now  rest  in.     The  fight 
Is  for  our  all.''  .  .  . 

1  A  golden  throne  had  been  set  up  for  Xerxes,  that  he  might  better  view 
tlie  battle.    These  lines  are  from  Byron. 


§  181]  SALAMIS  183 

.  .  .  And  the  hulls  of  ships 
Floated  capsized,  nor  could  the  sea  be  seen, 
Filled  as  it  was  with  wrecks  and  carcasses  ; 
And  all  the  shores  and  rocks  were  full  of  corpses, 
And  every  ship  was  wildly  rowed  in  flight, 
All  that  composed  the  Persian  armament. 
And  they  [Greeks],  as  men  spear  tunnies,  or  a  haul 
Of  other  fishes,  with  the  shafts  of  oars. 
Or  spars  of  wrecks,  went  smiting,  cleaving  down  ; 
And  bitter  groans  and  wailings  overspread 
The  wide  sea  waves,  till  eye  of  swarthy  night 
Bade  it  all  cease  ...  Be  assured 
That  never  yet  so  great  a  multitude 
Died  in  a  single  day  as  died  in  this."" 

180.  Two  incidents  in  the  celebration  of  the  victory  throw  light  upon 
Greek  character. 

The  commanders  of  the  varioiLS  city  contingents  in  the  Greek  fleet 
voted  a  prize  of  merit  to  the  city  that  deserved  best  in  the  action.  The 
Athenians  had  furnished  more  than  half  the  whole  fleet ;  they  were  the 
first  to  engage,  and  they  had  especially  distinguished  themselves ;  they 
had  seen  their  city  laid  in  ashes,  and  only  their  steady  patriotism  had 
made  a  victory  possible.  Peloponnesian  jealousy,  however,  passed  them 
hij  for  their  rival,  Aegina,  lohich  had  joined  the  Spartan  league. 

A  vote  was  taken,  also,  to  award  prizes  to  the  two  most  meritorious 
commanders.  Each  captain  voted  for  himself  for  the  first  place,  while 
all  voted  for  Themistocles  for  the  second. 

181.  The  Temptation  of  Athens.  —  Un  the  day  of  Salamis  the 
Sicilian  Greeks  won  a  decisive  victory  over  the  Carthaginians 
at  Himera.  For  a  while,  that  battle  closed  the  struggle  in 
the  West.  In  Greece  the  Persian  chances  were  still  good. 
Xerxes,  it  is  true,  tied  at  once  to  Asia  with  his  shattered  fleet ; 
but  he  left  his  general,  the  experienced  Mardonius,  with  three 
hundred  thousand  chosen  troops.  Mardonius  withdrew  from 
central  Greece  for  the  time,  to  winter  in  the  plains  of  Thessaly ; 
out  he  would  be  ready  to  renew  the  struggle  in  the  spring. 

The  Athenians  began  courageously  to  rebuild  their  city. 
Mardonius  looked  upon  them  as  the  soul  of  the  Greek  resist- 
ance, and  in  the  early  s])ring,  ho  offered  fhcm  an  allianrc,  with 
many  favors  and  with  the  complete  restoration  of  their  city  at 


184'  THE   GREEKS  — PERSIAN  WARS  [§182 

Persian  expense.  Sparta  was  terrificMl  lest  tli'"  Athenians 
sliould  aceei)t  so  tempting  an  oi'ic.r,  and  sent  in  liaste,  with 
many  j)n)mises,  to  beg  them  not  to  desert  the  cause  of  Hellas. 
Tliere  was  no  need  of  such  anxiety.  The  Athenians  had 
already  sent  back  the  Persian  messenger:  "Tell  Mardonius 
that  so  long  as  the  sun  holds  on  his  way  in  heaven,  the 
Athenians  will  come  to  no  terms  with  Xerxes."  They  then 
courteously  declined  the  Spartan  offer  of  aid  in  rebuilding 
their  city,  and  asked  otil;/  that  Sparta  fake  the  field  ear!;/  enough 
so  that  Athens  need  not  be  again  abandoned  ivithout  a  battle. 

Sparta  made  the  promise,  but  did  not  keep  it.  Mardonius 
approached  rapidly.  The  Spartans  found  another  sacred  fes- 
tival before  which  it  would  not  do  to  leave  their  homes ;  and 
the  Athenians,  in  bitter  disappointment,  a  second  time  took 
refuge  at  Salamis.  With  their  city  in  his  hands,  Mardonius 
offered  them  again  the  same  favorable  terms  of  alliance.  Only 
one  of  the  Athenian  Council  favored  even  submitting  the 
matter  to  the  people,  —  and  he  was  instantly  stoned  by  the 
enraged  populace,  while  the  women  inflicted  a  like  cruel  fate 
upon  his  wife  and  children.  Even  such  violence  does  not 
obscure  the  heroic  self-sacrifice  of  the  Athenians.  Mardonius 
burned*  Athens  a  second  time,  laid  waste  the  farms  over 
Attica,  cut  down  the  olive  groves  (the  slow  growth  of  many 
years),  and  then  retired  to  the  level  plains  of  Boeotia. 

182.  Battle  of  Plataea,  479  B.C.  —  Athenian  envoys  had  been 
at  Sparta  for  weeks  begging  for  instant  action,  but  they  had 
been  put  off  with  meaningless,  delays.  The  fact  was,  Sparta 
still  clung  to  the  stupid  plan  of  defending  only  the  isthmus, 
—  which  was  all  that  she  had  made  real  preparations  for. 
Some  of  her  keener  allies,  however,  at  last  made  the  Ephors 
see  the  uselessness  of  the  wall  at  Corinth  if  the  Athenians 
should  be  forced  to  join  Persia  with  their  fleet,  as  in  that 
case,  the  Persians  could  land  an  army  anywhere  they  chose 
in  the  rear  of  the  wall.  So  Sparta  decided  to  act ;  and  she 
gave  a  striking  proof  of  her  resources.  One  morning  the 
Athenian  envoys,  who  had  given  up  hope,  announced  indig- 


§  183]  PLATAEA  185 

nautly  to  the  Spartan  government  that  they  wonld  at  once 
return  home.  To  their  amazement,  they  were  tohl  tliat  during 
the  night  50,000  Peloponnesian  troops  had  set  out  for  central 
Greece. 

The  Athenian  forces  and  other  reinforcements  raised  the  total 
of  the  Greek  army  to  about  100,000,  and  the  final  contest  with 
Mardonius  was  fought  near  the  little  town  of  Plataea.  Spartan 
generalship)  blundered  sadly,  and  many  of  the  allies  were  not 
brought  into  the  fight ;  but  the  stubborn  Spartan  valor  and  the 
Athenian  skill  and  dash  won  a  victory  which  became  a  massacre 
It  is  said  that  of  the  260,000  Persians  engaged,  only  3000 
escaped  to  Asia.     The  Greeks  lost  154  men. 

183.  The  Meaning  of  the  Greek  Victory.  —  The  victory  of 
Plataea  closed  the  first  great  period  of  the  Persian  Wars.  A 
second  period  was  to  begin  at  once,  but  it  had  to  do  with  freeing 
the  Asiatic  Greeks.  That  is,  Europe  took  the  offensive.  No 
hostile  Persian  ever  again  set  foot  in  European  Greece. 

A  Persian  victory  would  have  meant  the  extinction  of  the 
world's  best  hope.  The  Persian  civilization  was  Oriental 
(§§  80,  81).  Marathon  and  Salamis  decided  that  the  des- 
potism of  the  East  should  not  crush  the  rising  freedom  of 
the  West  in  its  first  home. 

To  the  Greeks  themselves  their  victory  opened  a  new  epoch. 
They  were  victors  over  the  greatest  of  world-empires.  It  was 
a  victory  of  intellect  and  spirit  over  matter.  Unlimited  confi- 
dence gave  them  still  greater  power.  New  energies  stirred  in 
their  veins  and  found  expression  in  manifold  forms.  The 
matchless  bloom  of  Greek  art  and  thought,  in  the  next  two 
generations,  had  its  roots  in  the  soil  of  Marathon  and  Plataea. 

Moreover,  slow  as  the  Greeks  had  been  to  see  Sparta's  poor 
management,  most  of  them  could  no  longer  shut  their  eyes 
to  it.  Success  had  been  due  mainly  to  the  heroic  self-sacri- 
fice and  the  splendid  energy  and  wise  patriotism  of  Athens. 
And  that  city  —  truest  representative  of  Greek  culture  —  was 
soon  to  take  her  })roper  place  in  the  political  leadership  of 
Greece. 


ISO  THE  GREEKS  — PERSIAN  WARS  (§  183 

ExKKCisK8.  —  1.  Summarize  the  causes  of  tlio  I'cr.siaii  Wars.  2.  Devise 
and  memorize  a  series  of  catch-word^  for  rapid  statement,  that  shall  sug- 
gest the  outline  of  the  story  quickly.     Thus  :  — 

Persian  conquest  of  Lydia  and  so  of  Asiatic  Greeks  ;  revolt  of  Ionia, 
500  n.o.  ;  Athenian  aid  ;  recoiKiuest  of  Ionia.  First  expedition  against 
European  Greece,  492  n.c,  through  Thrace  :  Mount  Athos.  Second  expe- 
dition, across  the  Aegean,  two  years  later  :  capture  of  Eretria  ;  landing 
at  Marathon;  excuses  of  Sparta;  arrival  of  i'iataeans;  MiJtindes  and 
hattie  of  Marathon,  490  fi.C. 

(Let  the  student  continue  the  series.  In  this  way,  the  whole  story  may 
be  revieioed  in  two  minutes,  with  reference  to  every  important  event.) 


For  Further  Reading.  —  Specially  suf/f/ested :  Davis'  Readings 
gives  the  virhole  story  of  Xerxes'  invasion  as  the  Greeks  themselves  told 
it,  in  Vol.  I,  Nos.  62-73,  — about  47  pages.  Nowhere  else  can  it  be  read 
so  well  ;  and  the  high  school  student  who  does  read  that  account  can 
afford  to  omit  modern  authorities.  If  he  reads  further,  it  may  well  be 
in  one  of  the  volumes  mentioned  below,  mainly  to  see  how  the  modern 
authority  has  used  or  criticised  the  account  by  Herodotus. 

Additional:  Cox's  Greeks  and  Persians  is  an  admirable  little  book: 
chs.  v-viii  may  be  read  for  this  story.  Bury  is  rather  critical ;  but  the 
student  may  profitably  explore  his  pages  for  parts  of  the  story  (pp.  265- 
295).  Many  anecdotes  are  given  in  Plutarch's  Zires  ("  Themistocles  " 
and  "  Aristides"). 


CHAPTER    Xlir 

ATHENIAN   LEADERSfflP,   478-431  B.C. 
(From  the  Persian   Wak    ro  the   Pei.oponnesias  War) 

"  The  history  of  Athens  is  for  us  the  history  of  Greece.^'  —  Holm  . 

GROWTH   OF   THE   ATHENIAN    EMPIRE 

184.  Athens  Fortified.  —  Immediately  after  Plataea,  the 
Atlieniaiis  began  once  more  to  rebuild  their  temples  and  homes. 
Themistocles,  however,  persuaded  them  to  leave  even  these  in 
ashes  and  tirst  surround  the  city  with  walls.  Some  Greek  cities 
at  once  showed  themselves  basely  eager  to  keep  Athens  help- 
less. Corinth,  especially,  urged  Sparta  to  interfere ;  and,  to  her 
shame,  Sparta  did  call  upon  tlie  Athenians  to  give  up  the  plan. 
Such  walls,  she  said,  might  prove  an  advantage  to  the  Persians 
if  they  should  again  occupy  Athens.  Attica,  which  had  been 
ravaged  so  recently  by  the  Persians,  was  in  no  condition  to 
resist  a  Peloponnesian  army.  So,  neglecting  all  private  mat- 
ters, the  Athenians  toiled  with  desperate  haste  —  men,  women, 
children,  and  slaves.  The  irregular  luiture  of  the  walls  told 
the  story  to  later  generations.  No  nuiterial  was  too  precious. 
Inscribed  tablets  and  fragments  of  sacred  temples  and  even 
monuments  from  the  burial  grounds  were  seized  for  the  work. 
To  gain  the  necessary  time,  Themistocles  had  recourse  to  wiles. 
As  Thucydides  (§  224)  tells  the  story  :  — 

"  The  Athenians,  by  the  advice  of  Themistocles,  replied  that  they 
would  send  an  embassy  to  discuss  the  matter,  and  so  got  rid  of  the  Spar- 
tan envoys.  Themistocles  then  proposed  that  he  should  himself  start  at 
cmce  for  Sparta,  and  that  they  should  give  him  colleagues  who  were  not 
to  go  immediately,  but  were  to  wait  until  the  wall  had  reached  a  height 
which  could  be  defended.  .  .  .  On  his  arrival,  he  did  not  at  once  pre- 
sent himself  officially  to  the  magistrates,  but  delayed  and  made  excuses, 

187 


188         THE   CilltJEKS  — ATHENIAN   LEADERSHIP      (§185 

and  wlien  any  of  them  asked  liirn  why  he  did  not  appear  before  the 
Assembly,  lie  said  that  he  was  waiting  for  his  colleagues  who  had  been 
detained.  .  .  .  The  friendship  of  the  magistrates  for  Themistocles  in- 
duced tlKiui  to  believe  him,  i)ut  wIk^i  everybody  who  came  from  Athens 
declared  positivi^ly  that  the  wall  was  building,  and  had  already  reached  a 
considerable  lieiglit,  they  knew  not  what  to  think.  Aware  of  their 
suspicions,  Themistocles  asked  them  not  to  be  misled  by  reports,  but  to 
send  to  Athens  men  of  their  own  whom  they  could  trust,  to  see  for  them- 
selves. 

"The  Spartans  agreed  ;  and  Themistocles,  at  the  same  time,  privately 
instructed  the  Athenians  to  detain  the  Spartan  envoys  as  quietly  as  pos- 
sible, and  not  let  them  go  till  he  and  his  colleagues  had  got  safely  home. 
For  by  this  time,  those  who  were  joined  with  liiin  in  the  embassy  had 
arrived,  bringing  the  news  that  the  wall  was  of  sufficient  height,  and  he 
was  afraid  that  the  Lacedaemonians, i  when  they  heard  the  truth,  might 
not  allow  him  to  return.  So  the  Athenians  detained  the  envoys,  and 
Themistocles,  coming  before  the  Lacedaemonians,  at  length  declared,  in 
so  many  words,  that  Athens  was  now  provided  with  walls  and  would  pro- 
tect her  citizens :  henceforward,  if  the  Lacedaemonians  wished  at  any 
time  to  negotiate,  they  must  deal  with  the  Athenians  as  with  men  who 
knew  quite  well  what  was  best  for  their  own  and  the  common  good." 

185.  The  Piraeus.  —  Themistocles  was  not  yet  content. 
Athens  lay  some  three  miles  from  the  shore.  Until  a 
few  years  before,  her  only  port  had  been  an  open  road- 
stead, —  the  Phalerum  ;  but  during  his  archonship  in  493, 
as  part  of  his  plan  for  naval  greatness,  Themistocles  had 
given  the  city  a  magnificent  harbor,  by  improving  the  bay  of 
the  Piraeus,  at  great  expense.  Now  he  persuaded  the  people 
to  fortify  this  new  port.  Accordingly,  the  Piraeus,  on  the 
land  side,  was  surrounded  with  a  massive  wall  of  solid  masonry, 
clamped  with  iron,  sixteen  feet  broad  and  thirty  feet  high,  so 
that  old  men  and  boys  might  easily  defend  it  against  any 
enemy.  T7ie  Athenians  now  had  two  ivalled  cities,  each  four  or 
five  miles  in  circuit,  and  only  four  miles  apart. 

186.  Commerce  and  Sea  Power.  —  The  alien  merchants,  who 
dwelt  at  the  Athenian  ports,  had  fled  at  the  Persian  invasion ; 

1  Lacedaemouia  is  the  name  given  to  the  whole  Spartan  territory.  See 
map,  page  98. 


§187] 


ATHENIAN   COMMERCE 


189 


but  this  new  security  brought  them  back  in  throngs,  to  con- 
tribute to  the  power  and  wealth  of  Athens.  Theinistocles  took 
care,  too,  that  Athens  should  not  lose  her  supremacy  on  the  sea. 
Even  while  the  walls  of  the  Piraeus  were  building,  he  secured 
a  vote  of  the  Assembly  ordering  that  twenty  new  ships  should 
be  added  each  year  to  the  fleet. 


F  —Port  of  Piraeus 


999- 


Porticoes  and 
Corn-market 


jj  _Tomb  of 

Themistocles 


S  A   R   O  N  I  C        GULF 


acta  -Walls  of  Themistocles. 
bbb-0\d  City  Limits. 
A  —Acropolis. 
B  — Areopeigus. 
C-Pnyx. 
D  —Museum. 
£— Agora. 


Pljlh  of  Athens  and  its  Forts.  ^ 


187.  Attempt  at  One  League  of  All  Hellas.  —  While  the  Greek  army 
was  still  encamped  on  the  field  of  victory  at  Plataea,  it  was  agreed  to 
hold  there  each  year  a  Congress  of  all  Greek  cities.  For  a  little  time 
back,  danger  had  forced  a  make-shift  union  upon  the  Greeks.  The  plan 
at  Plataea  was  a  wise  attempt  to  make  this  union  into  a  permanent  con- 
federacy of  all  Hellas.  TTie  proposal  came  from  the  Athenians,  with 
the  generous  understanding  that  Sparta  should  keep  the  headship.  Tiie 
plan  failed.  Indeed,  the  jealous  hostility  of  Sparta  regarding  the  fortifi- 
cation of  Athens  showed  that  a  true  union  would  be  difficult.  Instead  of 
one  confederacy,  Chreecefell  apart  into  two  rival  leagues. 


1  Tlie  "  Ix)ng  Walls  "  were  not  built  until  several  years  after  the  events 
meutioued  in  this  section.    See  §  200. 


1<)()         THE    dUEEKS  — ATHENIAN    LEADEHSHH^      [§188 

188.  Sparta  and  Athens-  — Tli(ni,t,'li  Sjjarta  had  lield  coiiuiiand 
in  the  war,  still  the  i(!j)ulso  of  Persia  had  eounUni  most  for  the 
glory  of  Atheus.  Athens  had  made  greater  sacrifices  than  any 
other  state.  She  had  shown  lierself  free  from  petty  vanity, 
and  had  acted  with  a  broad  patriotism.  She  had  furnished 
tlie  best  ideas  and  ablest  leaders ;  and,  even  in  the  field,  Athe- 
nian enterprise  and  vigor  had  accomplished  as  much  as  Spartan 
discii)line  and  valor. 

SjKirta  had  been  necessary  at  the  beginning.  Hatl  it  not 
been  for  her  great  reputation,  the  Greeks  would  not  have 
known  where  to  turn  for  a  leader,  and  so,  probably,  could  not 
have  come  to  any  united  action.  Ikit  she  had  shown  miserable 
judgment;  her  leaders,  however  brave,  had  proved  incapable  ' ; 
and,  now  that  war  against  Persia  \vas  to  be  carried  on  at  a 
distance,  her  lack  of  enterprise  became  even  more  evident. 
iMeantime,  events  were  happening  in  Asia  Minor  which  were 
to  force  Athens  into  leadership.  The  European  Greeks  had 
been  imwilling  to  follow  any  but  Spartan  generals  on  sea  or 
land ;  hut  the  scene  of  the  toar  ivas  now  transferred  to  the 
Ionian  coast,  and  there  Athens  ivas  the  more  ])opular  city. 
Many  cities  there,  like  Miletus,  looked  upon  Athens  as  their 
mother  city  (§  121). 

189.  Mycale.  —  In  the  early  spring  of  479,  a  fleet  had  crossed 
the  Aegean  to  assist  Samos  in  revolt  against  Persia.  A  Spartan 
commanded  the  expedition,  but  three  fifths  of  the  ships  were 
Athenian.  On  the  very  day  of  Plataea  (so  the  Greeks  told 
the  story),  these  forces  won  a  double  victory  at  Mycale,  on  the 
coast  of  Asia  Minor.  They  defeated  a  great  Persian  army, 
and  seized  and  burned  the  three  hundred  Persian  ships.  iVb 
Persian  feet  shoived  itself  again  in  the  Aegean  for  nearly  a  hun- 
dred years.  Persian  garrisons  remained  in  many  of  the  islands, 
for  a  time ;  but  Persia  made  no  attempt  to  reinforce  them. 

1  Two  of  her  kings  were  soon  to  play  traitorous  parts  to  Sparta  and  Hellas. 
Special  report :  King  Leotychides  in  Thessaly.  See  also  Pausanias  at  Byzan- 
tium, §  15)0.  The  boasted  f>part(tn  training  did  not  fit  her  men  for  the  duties 
of  the  wider  life  noio  open  to  them. 


§  191]  THE   rONFEDERACY   OF   DELOS  191 

190.  The  Ionian  Greeks  throw  off  Spartan  Leadership. — The 
victory  of  Mycale  was  a  signal  for  the  cities  of  Ionia  to  revolt 
again  against  Persia.  The  Spartans,  however,  shrank  from  the 
task  of  defending  Hellenes  so  far  away,  and  proposed  instead 
to  remove  the  lonians  to  European  Greece.  The  lonians  refused 
to  leave  their  homes,  and  the  Athenians  in  the  fleet  declared 
that  Sparta  should  not  so  destroy  "  Athenian  colonies."  Tlie 
Spartans  seized  the  excuse  to  sail  home,  leaving  the  Athenians  to 
protect  the  lonians  as  best  they  could.  The  Athenians  gal- 
lantly undertook  the  task,  and  began  at  once  to  expel  the 
Persian  garrisons  from  the  islands  of  the  Aegean. 

The  next  spring  (478)  Sparta  thought  better  of  the  matter, 
and  sent  Pausanias  to  take  command  of  the  allied  fleet.  Pau- 
sanias  had  been  the  general  of  the  Greeks  at  the  battle  of  the 
Plataea ;  but  that  victory  had  turned  his  head.  He  treated  the 
allies  with  contempt  and  neglect.  At  last  they  found  his  inso- 
lence unbearable,  and  asked  the  Athenians  to  take  the  leader- 
ship. Just  then  it  was  discovered  that  Pausanias  had  been 
negotiating  treasonably  with  Persia,  offering  to  betray  Hellas. 
Sparta  recalled  him,  to  stand  trial,^  and  sent  another  general  to 
the  fleet.  The  allies,  however,  refused  to  receive  another 
Spartan  commander.  Tlien  Sparta  and  the  Pdoponnesian  league 
ivithdreio  wholly  from  the  ivar. 

191.  The  Confederacy  of  Delos.  —  After  getting  rid  of  Sparta, 
the  first  step  of  the  allies  was  to  organize  a  confederacy.  The 
chief  part  in  this  great  work  fell  to  Aristides,  the  commander 
of  the  Athenian  ships  in  the  allied  fleet.  Aristides  proposed 
a  plan  of  union,  and  appointed  the  number  of  ships  and  the 
amount  of  money  that  each  of  the  allies  should  furnish  each 
year.  The  courtesy  and  tact  of  the  Athenian,  and  his  known 
honesty,  made  all  the  states  content  with  his  proposals,  and 
his  arrangements  were  readily  accepted. - 

The  union  was  called  the  Confederacy  of  Delos,  because  its 

1  Special  report:  the  story  of  the  punishment  of  Pausanias. 

2  ExKRCisK. — 1.  Could  Thcmistocles  have  served  Athens  at  this  time  as 
well  as  Aristides  did  ?    2.  Report  upon  tlie  later  life  of  Themistooles. 


102         Til R   r.REEKS  — ATHENIAN  LEADERSHIP      [§192 

seat  pf  government  and  its  treasury  were  to  be  at  the  island  of 
])elos  (tlie  ciMiter  of  an  ancient  Ionian  ampliictyony).  Here 
an  annuid  congress  of  de{)uti(\s  from  tlie  different  cities  of  the 
league  was  to  meet.  Each  city  had  one  vote.*  Athens  was 
the  "  i)resident "  of  the  league.  Her  generals  commanded  the 
fleet,  and  her  delegates  presided  at  the  Congress.  In  return, 
Athens  bore  nearly  half  the  total  burdens,  in  furnishing  ships 
and  men,  —  far  more  than  her  proper  share. 

The  purpose  of  the  league  was  to  free  the  Aegean  completely 
from  the  Persians,  and  to  keep  them  from  ever  coming  back. 
The  allies  meant  to  make  the  union  perpetual.  Lumps  of  iron 
were  thrown  into  the  sea  when  the  oath  of  union  was  taken,  as 
a  symbol  that  it  should  be  binding  until  the  iron  should  float. 
The  league  toas  composed  mainly  of  Ionian  cities,  interested  in 
commerce.  It  was  a  natural  rival  of  Sparta's  Dorian  inland 
league. 

192.  The  League  did  its  work  well.  Its  chief  military  hero 
was  the  Athenian  Cimon,  son  of  Miltiades.'^  Year  after  year, 
under  his  command,  the  allied  fleet  reduced  one  Persian  gar- 
rison after  another,  until  the  whole  region  of  the  Aegean  — 
all  its  coasts  and  islands  —  was  free.  Then,  in  466,  Cimon 
carried  the  war  beyond  the  Aegean  and  won  his  most  famous 
victory  at  the  mouth  of  the  Eurymedon,  in  Pamphylia  (map 
following  page  132),  where  in  one  day  he  destroyed  a  Persian 
land  host  and  captured  a  fleet  of  250  vessels. 

193.  Naturally,  the  League  grew  in  size.  It  came  to  include 
nearly  all  the  islands  of  the  Aegean  and  the  cities  of  the 
northern  and  eastern  coasts.  The  cities  on  the  straits  and 
shores  of  the  Black  Sea,  too,  were  added,  and  the  rich  trade  of 
that  region  streamed  through  the  Hellespont  to  the  Piraeus. 
After  the  victory  of  the  Eurymedon,  many  of  the  cities  of  the 
Carian  and  Lycian  coasts  joined  the  confederacy.  Indeed,  the 
cities  of  the  league  felt  that  all  other  Greeks  of  the  Aegean 

1  Like  our  states  in  Congress  under  the  old  Articles  of  Confederation. 

2  There  is  an  interesting  account  of  Cimon  (three  pages)  in  Davis'  Read- 
ings, \'o\,  1,  Xo.  74,  from  Plutarch's  Life, 


§  195]  THE  ATHENIAN  EMPIRE  193 

and  of  neighboring  waters  were  under  obliyation  to  join,  since 
they  all  had  part  in  the  blessings  of  the  union.  Aristophanes 
speaks  of  a  "  thousand  cities  "  in  the  league,  but  only  two  hun- 
dred and  eighty  are  known  by  name. 

194.  Some  members  of  the  League  soon  began  to  shirk.  As 
soon  as  the  pressing  danger  and  the  first  enthusiaui  were  over, 
many  cities  chose  to  j)ay  more  money,  instead  of  furnishinfj  shij^s 
and  men.  They  became  indifferent,  too,  about  the  congress, 
and  left  the  management  of  all  matters  to  Athens.  Athens, 
on  the  other  hand,  was  ambitious,  and  eagerly  accepted  both 
burdens  and  responsibilities.  The  fleet  became  almost  wholly 
Athenian.  Then  it  was  no  longer  necessary  for  Athens  to 
consult  the  allies  as  to  the  management  of  the  war,  and  the 
congress  became  of  little  consequence. 

Another  change  was  still  more  important.  Here  and  there, 
cities  began  to  refuse  even  the  payment  of  money.  This,  of 
course,  was  secession.  Such  cities  said  that  Persia  was  no 
longer  dangerous,  and  that  the  need  of  the  league  was  over. 
But  the  Athenian  fleet,  patrolling  the  Aegean,  was  all  that 
kept  the  Persians  from  reappearing ;  and  Athens,  with  good 
r'^.ason,  held  the  allies  by  force  to  their  promises. 

The  first  attempt  at  secession  came  in  467,  when  the  union 
was  only  ten  years  old.  Naxos,  one  of  the  most  powerful 
islands,  refused  to  pay  its  contributions.  Athens  at  once 
attacked  Naxos,  and,  after  a  stern  struggle,  brought  it  to  sub- 
mission. But  the  conquered  state  ivas  not  alloived  to  return  into 
the  union.  It  lost  its  vote  in  the  congress,  and  became  a  mere 
subject  of  Athens. 

195.  The  "Athenian  Empire."  —  From  time  to  time,  other 
members  of  the  league  attempted  secession,  and  met  a  fate 
like  that  of  Naxos.  Athens  took  away  their  fleets,  leveled 
their  walls,  made  them  pay  a  small  tribute.  Sometimes  such 
a  city  had  to  turn  over  its  citadel  to  an  Athenian  garrison. 
Usually  a  subject  city  was  left  to  manage  its  internal  govern- 
ment in  its  own  way ;  but  it  could  no  longer  have  political 
alliances  with  other  cities. 


194         TlIK    (JRKEKS  — ATHENIAN   LEADERSHIP      |§  I'iO 

Just  how  many  such  rebellions  there  were  we  do  not  know; 
hut  liefore  long  the  loyal  cities  found  themselves  treated 
much  like  those  that  had  rebelled.  The  confedcmcjj  of  equal 
Hlntc.s  became  an  empire,  loith  Athens  for  Us  'tyrant  city.''  The 
meetings  of  the  congress  ceased  altogetlier.  The  treasury  was 
removed  from  Delos  to  Athens,  and  the  funds  and  resources 
of  the  union  were  used  for  the  glory  of  Athen:/. 

Athens,  however,  did  continue  to  perfhnn  faithfully  the  work 
for  irhirh  the  union  had  been  created;  and  on  the  whole,  despite 
the  strong  tendency  to  city  independence,  the  subject  cities 
seem  to  have  been  well  content.  Even  hostile  critics  con- 
fessed that  the  bulk  of  the  people  looked  gratefully  to  Athens 
for  protection  against  the  oligarchs.  Athens  was  the  true 
mother  of  Ionian  democracy.  As  an  Athenian  orator  said/ 
"  Athens  teas  the  champion  of  the  masses,  denying  the  right  of 
the  many  to  be  at  the  mercy  of  the  feiv."  In  nearly  every  city 
of  the  empire  the  ruling  power  became  an  Assembly  like  that 
at  Athens. 

By  450  B.C.  Lesbos,  Chios,  and  Samos  were  the  only  states  of  the 
league  which  had  not  become  "subject  states"  ;  and  even  they  had  no 
voice  in  the  government  of  the  empire.  Athens,  however,  had  other 
independent  allies  that  had  never  belonged  to  the  Delian  Confederacy 
—  like  riataea,  Corcyra,  Naupactus,  and  Acarnania  in  Greece  ;  Rhegium 
in  Italy  ;  and  Segesta  and  other  Ionian  cities  in  Sicily. 

For  Further  Reading.  —  Specialty  sugyested :  The  only  passage  in 
Davis'  Readings  for  this  period  is  Vol.  I,  No.  74,  on  Cimon.  Bury,  228- 
242,  covers  the  period.  Instead  of  Bury,  the  student  may  well  read 
Chapter  1  in  Cox's  Athenian  Empire.  Plutarch's  Themistodes  and 
Aristidex  continue  to  be  valuable  for  additional  reading. 

FIRST    TKUIOI)    OF    STRIFF,    WITH    SPARTA,    4(11-445    b.c. 

196.  Jealousy  between  Athens  and  Sparta.  —  Greece  had  di- 
vided into  two  great  leagues,  under  the  lead  of  Athens  and 
Sparta.  These  two  powers  now  quarreled,  and  their  strife 
made  the  history  of  Hellas  for  many  years.  The  first  hostile 
step  came  from    Sparta.     In  465,  Thasos,  a   member   of   the 


§  199]  FIRST   STRIFE   WITH    SPARTA  195 

Confederacy  of  Deles,  revolted ;  and  Athens  was  employed 
for  two  years  in  conquering  her.  During  the  struggle,  Thasos 
asked  Sparta  for  aid.  Sparta  and  Athens  were  still  nominally 
in  alliance,  under  the  league  of  Plataea  (§  186) ;  but  Sparta 
grasped  at  the  opportunity  and  secretly  began  preparations  to 
invade  Attica. 

197.  Athenian  Aid  for  Sparta.  —  This  treacherous  attack  was 
prevented  by  a  terrible  eartliquake  which  destroyed  part  of 
Sparta  and  threw  the  whole  state  into  confusion.  The  Helots 
revolted,  and  Messenia  (§  127)  made  a  desperate  attempt  to  re- 
gain her  independence.  Instead  of  attacking  Athens,  Sparta, 
in  dire  need,  called  upon  her  for  aid. 

At  Athens  this  request  led  to  a  sharp  dispute.  The  demo- 
cratic party,  led  by  Ephialtes  ^  and  Perides,  was  opposed  to 
sending  help ;  but  Cimoii  (i  19-),  leader  of  the  aristocratic 
party,  urged  that  the  true  policy  was  for  Sparta  and  Athens 
to  aid  each  other  in  keeping  a  joint  leadership  of  Hellas. 
Athens,  he  said,  ought  not  to  let  her  yoke-fellow  be  destroyed 
and  Greece  be  lamed.  This  generous  advice  prevailed ;  and 
Cimon  led  an  Athenian  army  to  Sparta's  aid. 

198.  An  Open  Quarrel.  —  A  little  later,  however,  the  Spartans 
began  to  suspect  the  Athenians,  groundlessly,  of  the  same  bad 
faith  of  which  they  knew  themselves  guilty,  and  sent  back  the 
army  with  insult.  Indignation  then  ran  high  at  Athens ;  and 
the  anti-Spartan  party  was  greatly  strengthened.  Cimon  was 
ostracized  (461  e.g.),  and  the  aristocratic  faction  was  left 
leaderless  and  helpless  for  many  years. 

At  almost  the  same  time  Ephialtes  was  murdered  by  aristo- 
crat conspirators.  Thus,  leadership  fell  to  Pericles.  Under 
his  influence  Athens  formalin  renounced  her  alliance  with 
Sparta.  Then  the  two  great  powers  of  Greece  stood  in  open 
opposition,  ready  for  war. 

199.  A  Land  Empire  for  Athens. — -Thus  far  the  Athenian 
empire  had  been  mainly  a  sea  power.      Pericles  planned  to 


1  This,  of  course,  was  uot  the  Ephialtes  of  Thermopylae. 


190         Till-:   fJRKEKS  — ATHENIAN   LEADERSHIP      [§  2f)0 


extend  it  likewise  over  inland  fxrec^ce,  and  so  to  supplant 
Sparta,  lie  easily  seeured  an  alliance  with  Argos,  Sparta's 
sleepless  foe.  He  established  Athenian  influence' also  in  Thes- 
saly,  by  treaties  with  the  great  chiefs  there,  and  thus  secured 
the  aid  of  the  famous  Thessalian  cavalry.     Then  Megara,  on 

the  Isthmus  of  Corinth, 
sought  Athenian  alliance, 
in  order  to  protect  itself 
against  Corinth,  its  power- 
ful neighbor.  This  in- 
volved war  with  Corinth, 
but  Pericles  gladly  wel- 
comed Megara  because  of 
its  ports  on  the  Corinthian 
Gulf.  He  then  built  long 
walls  running  the  whole 
width  of  tbe  narrow  isth- 
mus from  sea  to  sea,  joining 
Megara  and  these  ports. 
In  control  of  these  walls, 
Athens  could  prevent  in- 
vasion by  land  from  the 
Peloponnesus. 

200.  Activity  of  Athens. 
—  A  rush  of  startling 
^^^^^g  £^lj^^^,^^l  Corinth 
A  portrait  bust,  now  in  the  Vatican  at  R.,me.  ^^^  Aegina,  bitterly  angry 
because  their  old  commerce  had  now  been  drawn  to  the  Piraeus, 
declared  war  on  Athens.  Athens  promptly  captured  Aegina, 
and  struck  Corinth  blow  after  blow  even  in  the  Corinthian 
Gulf.  At  the  same  time,  without  lessening  her  usual  fleet  in  the 
Aegean,  she  sent  a  mighty  armament  of  250  ships  to  carr}'  on 
the  w^ar  against  Persia,  by  assisting  Egypt  in  a  revolt.  Such 
a  fleet  called  for  from  2500  to  5000  soldiers  and  50,000  sailors,^ 

1  A  Greek  warsliip  of  this  period  was  called  a  "three-banker"  (trireme), 
because  she  was  rowed  by  oarsmen  arranged  on  three  benches,  one  above 


§200] 


ATHENIAN  ACTIVITY 


197 


The  sailors  came  largely  from  tlie  poorer  citizens,  and  even 
from  the  non-citizen  class. 

Pericles  turned  next  to  Boeotia,  and  set  up  friendly  democ- 
racies in  many  of  the  cities  there  to  lessen  the  control  of  oli- 
garchic  and    hostile  Thebes.       The   quarrel  with   Sparta  had 


Side  of  Part  ok  a  Trikemk.  —  From  a  relief  at  Athens.  In  this  trireme 
the  highest  "  bank  "  of  rowers  rested  their  oars  on  the  gunwale.  Only  the 
oars  of  the  other  two  banks  are  visible. 

become  open  war ;  and  an  Athenian  fleet  burned  the  Laconian 
dock-yards.     A  Spartan  army  crossed  the  Corinthian  Gulf  and 


another.  The  wars  which  the  Greeks  waged  in  these  three-bankers  were  hardly 
more  tierce  than  those  that  modern  scholars  have  waged  —  in  ink  —  about 
them.  Some  have  held  that  each  group  of  three  oarsmen  held  only  one  oar. 
This  view  is  now  abandoned  —  because  of  the  evidence  of  the  "reliefs"  on 
Greek  monuments.  Plainly  each  grouj)  of  three  had  three  separate  oars,  of 
different  lengths;  but  we  do  not  know  yet  how  they  could  have  worked  them 
successfully.  The  oars  projected  through  port-holes,  and  the  174  oarsmen 
were  protected  from  arrows  by  the  wooiien  sides  of  the  vessel.  Sometimes  —  as 
in  the  illustration  above  —  the  upper  bank  of  rowers  liad  no  protection.  There 
were  about  20  other  sailors  to  each  sliip,  for  helinsmati,  lookouts,  overseers 
of  the  oarsmen,  and  so  on.  And  a  warsliip  never  carried  less  than  ten  fully 
armed  soldiers.     The  Athenians  usually  sent  from  20  to  25  in  each  ship. 

The  ships  were  about  120  feet  long,  and  less  than  20  feet  wide.  The  two 
masts  were  always  lowere<l  for  battle.  Two  methods  of  attack  were  in  use.  If 
possible,  a  ship  crushed  in  the  side  of  an  oi)ponent  by  ramming  with  its  sharp 
bronze  prow.  This  would  sink  tiic  enemy's  ship  at  once.  Almost  as  good  a 
thing  was  to  run  close  along  lier  side  (shipjiing  one's  own  oars  on  that  side 
just  in  time),  shivering  her  long  oars  and  liurliiig  lier  rowers  from  the  benches. 
This  left  a  ship  as  helpless  as  a  bird  with  a  broken  wing. 


198         TIIK   (IHKKKS       ATHENIAN   LEADERSHIP      [§201 

appciii-cd  ill  r.()C()ti;i,  lo  i-licck  At  lii'iiiaii  jirof^'ress  t  ll(•^^  It  won 
a  j)arti;il  victory  at  7'a/tcu/ra  (map  alter  page  'JIS),  —  the  first 
real  battle  betwcHMi  the  two  states, — but  iinniediately  retreated 
into  the  IN-loponncsiis.  The  Athenians  at  once  reappeared  in 
the  field,  cnisht'd  tlif  Thebans  in  a  great  battle  at  Oenophyta, 
and  became  musters  of  all  Piocotia.  At  the  same  time  Phocis 
and  Locrisi  allied  themselves  to  Athens,  so  that  she  seemed  in 
a  fair  way  to  extend  her  land  empire  over  all  central  Greece,  — 
to  which  she  now  held  the  two  gates,  Thermopylae  and  the 
passes  of  the  isthmus.  A  little  later  Achaea,  in  the  Pelo- 
ponnesus itself,  was  added  to  the  Athenian  league. 

The  activity  of  Athens  at  this  period  is  marvelous.  It 
is  impossible  even  to  mention  the  many  instances  of  her 
matchless  energy  and  splendid  daring  for  the  few  years  after 
4(50,  while  the  empire  was  at  its  height.  For  one  instance  : 
just  when  Athens'  hands  were  fullest  in  Egypt  and  in  the 
siege  of  Aegina,  Corinth  tried  a  diversion  by  invading  the 
territory  of  Megara.  Athens  did  not  recall  a  man.  She  armed 
the  youths  and  the  old  men  })ast  age  of  service,  and  repelled 
the  invaders.  The  Corinthians,  stung  by  shame,  made  a  sec- 
ond, more  determined  attempt,  and  were  again  repulsed  with 
great  slaughter.  It  was  at  this  time,  too,  that  the  city  com- 
pleted her  fortifications,  by  building  the  Long  Walls  from 
Athens  to  her  ports  (maps,  pages  180  and  189).  These  walls 
were  30  feet  high  and  12  feet  thick.  They  made  Athens  abso- 
lutely safe  from  a  siege,  so  long  as  she  kept  her  supremacy  on 
the  sea ;  and  they  added  to  the  city  a  large  open  space  where 
the  country  people  might  take  refuge  in  case  of  invasion. 

201.  Loss  of  the  Land  Empire-  —  How  one  city  could  carry 
on  all  these  activities  is  almost  beyond  comprehension.  But 
the  resources  of  Athens  were  severely  strained,  and  a  sudden 
series  of  stunning  blows  well-nigh  exhausted  her.  The  expedi- 
tion to  Egypt  had  at  first  been  brilliantly  successful,^  but  un- 
foreseen disaster  followed,  and  the  250  ships  and  the  whole 

1  Athenian  success  here  would  have  shut  Persia  off  completely  from  the 
Mediterranean,  and  so  from  all  possible  contact  with  Europe. 


§203]  THE   POWER   OF  ATHENS  199 

army  iu  Egypt  were  lost.'  This  stroke  would  have  annihilated 
any  other  Greek  state,  and  it  was  followed  by  others.  Megara, 
which  had  itself  invited  an  Athenian  garrison,  now  treacher- 
ously massacred  it  and  joined  the  Peloponnesian  league.  A 
Spartan  army  then  entered  Attica  through  ^Nlegara;  and,  at 
the  same  moment,  Euboea  burst  into  revolt.  All  Hoeotia,  too, 
except  Plataea,  fell  away.  The  oligarchs  won  the  up])er  hand 
in  its  various  cities,  and  joined  themselves  to  Sparta. 

202.  The  Thirty  Years'  Truce.  —  The  activity  and  skill  of 
Pericles  saved  Attica  and  Euboea;  but  the  inland  possessions 
and  alliances  were  for  the  most  part  lost,  and  in  445  b.c.  a 
Thirty  Years'  Truce  was  concluded  with  Sparta.  A  little  be- 
fore this,  the  long  war  with  Persia  had  closed. 

For  fifteen  years  Athens  had  almost  unbroken  peace.  Then 
the  truce  between  Sparta  and  Athens  was  broken,  and  the 
great  Peloponnesian  War  began  (§§  241  ff.).  That  straggle 
ruined  the  power  of  Athens  and  the  promise  of  Greece.  There- 
fore, before  entering  upon  its  story,  we  will  stop  here  for  a 
survey  of  Greek  civilization  at  this  period  of  its  highest  glory, 
in  Athens,  its  chief  center. 

For  FiKTHER  Reading.  —  Spcrially  suggested:  Davis'  Readings, 
Vol.  I,  Nos.  73-75.(4  pa.Kes);  Bury,  ;;.")2-.30.S.  Additional:  Cox's  Athe- 
nian Empire,  and  the  opeiiinu'  cliapters  of  (Jrant's  Greece  in  the  Age  of 
Pericles  and  of  Abbott's  Porirlea. 

THE    EMPIRE    AND    THE    I.MI'EHIAE   CITY   IN   PEACE 

203.  Three  Forms  of  Greatness. — Athens  had  great  material  power 
and  a  high  political  development  and  wonderful  intellectual  greatness.  The 
last  is  what  she  especially  stands  for  in  history.  But  the  first  two  topics 
have  already  been  partly  discussed,  and  may  be  best  disposed  of  here 
before  the  most  important  one  is  taken  up. 

A.    Mii.iT.vuv  Strkxgth 

"  The  Athens  of  the  fifth  centnnj  ifa.'<  a  great  .state  in  a  higher  sense 
than  most  of  the  kingdoms  of  the  Middle  Ages.   .  .   .     For  the  space  of  a 

1  Special  report. 


200         THE   CiREEKS— ATHENIAN   LEADERSHIP      [§204 

htilf  rcntnrn  hej-  power  was  (piite  on  n  par  inith  that  of  Persia,  .  .  .  ajad 
the  Athenimi  Empire  in  tfie.  true  precursor  of  those  of  Macedonia  ajul 
Borne."'—  lloi.M.  II,  269. 

204.  Material  Power.  —  Tlic  last  real  chaiuje  for  a  united 
Hellas  passed  away  when  Athens  lus.t  eontrol  of  central  Greece. 
"But  at  the  moment  the  loss  of  laud  empire  did  not  seem  to 
lessen  Athens'  strength.  She  had  saved  her  sea  empire,  and 
consolidated  it  ni()re  firmly  than  eve_r.  And,  for  a  genera- 
tion more,  the  Greeks  of  that  empire  loe^re  the  leaders  of  the  world 
in  jioioer,  as  in  culture.  '^Uiey  had  proved  themselves  mwe  tl^an 
a  match  for  Persia.  The  moxe  magic  of  the  Athenian  uanae 
sufficed  to  keep  Carthage  imxa  renewing  her  attack  upon  the 
Sicilian  Greeks.  The  Athenian  colonies  in  Thrace  easily  held, 
in  check  the  rising  Macedonian  kingdom.  Himie,  which  three 
centuries  later  was  to  absorb  Hellas  inU)  her  world-empire,  was 
still  a  barbarous  village  on  the  Tiber  bank.  In  the  middle  of 
the  fifth  century  b.c.  the  center  of  power  in  the  ivQild  was  impe- 
rial ^ifhens. 

205.  Population.  —  The  cities  of  the  empire  counted  some 
three  millions  of  people.  The  number  seems  small  to  us  ;  but 
it  must  be  kept  in  mind  that  the  impidation  of  the  world  tvas 
much  smaller  then  than  noio,  and  that  the  Athenian  empire  was 
made  up  of  cultured,  wealthy,  progressive  communities. 

To  be  sure,  slaves  made  a  large  fraction  of  this  population. 
Attica  itself  contained  about  one  tenth  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
whole  empire,  perhaps  300,000  people  (about  as  many  as  live 
in  Minneapolis).  Of  these,  one  fourth  were  slaves,  and  a 
sixth  were  aliens.  This  left  some  lTo,000  citizens,  of  whom 
perhaps  35,000  were  men  fit  for  soldiers.  Outside  Attica, 
there  were  75,000  more  citizens, — the  cleruchs  (§  148),  whom 
Pericles  had  sent  to  garrison  outlying  parts  of  the  empire. 

206.  Colonies.  —  The  cleruchs,  unlike  other  Greek  colonists, 
kept  all  the  rights  of  citizenship.  They  had  their  own  local 
Assemblies,  to  manage  the  affairs  of  each  colony.  But  they  kept 
also  their  enrollment  in  the  Attic  denies  and  could  vote  upon 
the  affairs  of  Athens  and   of  the  empire  —  though  not  unless 


§208]  THE   POWER  OF   ATHENS  201 

they  came  to  Athens  in  person.  The}^  were  mostly  from  the 
poorer  classes,  and  were  induced  to  go  out  to  the  new  settlements 
by  the  gift  of  lands  sufficient  to  raise  them  at  least  to  the 
class  of  hoplites  (§  137).  Kome  copied  this  plan  a  century 
later.  Otherwise,  the  loorld  was  not  to  see  again  so  liberal  a  form 
of  colonization  until  the  United  States  of  America  began  to 
organize  "  Territories.'' 

207.  Revenue.  —  The  empire  was  rich,  and  the  revenues  of 
the  government  were  large,  for  those  days.  Athens  drew  a 
yearly  iuconie  of  about  four  hundred  talents  ($400,000  in  our 
values)  from  her  Thracian  mines  and  from  the  port  dues  and 
the  taxes  on  alien  merchants.  The  tribute  from  the  subject 
cities  amounted  to  $600,000.  This  tribute  was  fairly  assessed, 
and  it  bore  lightly  upon  the  prosperous  Greek  communities. 
Tlie  Asiatic  Greeks  paid  only  one  sixth  as  much  as  they  had 

formerly  paid  Persia;  and  the  tax  was  much  less  than  it  would 
have  cost  the  cities  merely  to  defend  themselves  against 
pirates,  had  Athenian  protection  been  removed. 

Indeed,  the  whole  amount  drawn  from  the  subject  cities 
would  not  keep  one  hundred  shi})S  manned  and  equipped  for  a 
year,  to  say  nothing  of  building  them.  When  we  remember 
the  standing  navy  in  the  Aegean  and  the  great  armaments  that 
Athens  sent  repeatedly  against  Persia,  it  is  })lain  that  she  con- 
tinued to  bear  her  full  share  of  the  imperial  burden.  She  kept 
her  empire  because  she  did  not  rob  her  dependencies  —  as 
most  empires  had  done,  and  were  to  do  for  two  thousand 
years  longer. 

B.   Government 

208.  Steps  in  Development.  —  Seventy  years  had  passed  be- 
tween the  reforms  of  Clisthenes  and  the  truce  with  Sparta. 
The  main  steps  of  progress  in  government  were  five. 

The  office  of  General  had  grown  greatly  in  importance. 
The  Assembly  had  extended  its  authority  to  all  matters  of 
government,  in  practice  as  well  as  in  theory. 

Jury  courts  (§  211,  below)  had  gained  importance. 


202         TIIK    (IKKKKS       A'I'IIKNIAN    LEADERSHIP      [§208 


The  jxxircst    ritizms    (it    l^dj)     li;i(l    been    made    eligible   to 
office. 

Tlie  state  hdd  fm/im  la  [kiii  its  citizaii.s  for  public  services. 


.Map  ok  Athens,  with  some  structures  of  the  Roiaau  period. — The  term 
"Stoa,"  which  appears  so  ofteu  iu  this  map,  ineaus  "porch"  or  portico. 
These  porticoes  were  inclosed  by  columns,  and  their  fronts  along  the 
Agora  formed  a  succession  of  colonnades.  Only  a  few  of  the  famous  build- 
ings can  be  shown  in  a  map  like  this.  The  "  Agora  "  was  the  great  public 
square,  or  open  market  place,  surrounded  by  shops  and  porticoes.  It  was 
the  busiest  spot  in  Athens,  the  center  of  the  commercial  and  social  life  of 
the  city,  where  men  met  their  friends  for  business  or  for  pleasure. 

The  constitution  was  not  made  over  new  at  any  one  moment 
within  this  period,  as  it  had  been  earlier,  at  the  time  of  Solon 
and  of  Clisthenes.  Indeed,  the  change  was  more  iu  the  spirit 
of  the  j)eople  than  in  the  written  law.  The  first  three  steps 
mentioned  (the  increased  power  of  the  Generals  and  of  the  As 


§  21()J     GOVERNMENT   OF  ATHENS,    HER  EMPIRE       203 

sembly  and  jury  courts)  came  altogether  from  a  gradual  change 
in  practice.  The  other  two  steps  had  been  brought  about  by 
piecemeal  legislation.  The  giiiding  spirit  in  most  of  this  de- 
velopment was  Pericles. 

209.  "  Generals  "  and  '-Leaders  of  the  People."  —  When  Themis- 
tocles  put  through  important  measures,  •  like  the  improve- 
ment of  the  Piraeus  (§  185),  he  held  the  office  of  Archon  ; 
but  when  (Union  or  Pericles  guided  the  policy  of  Athens, 
they  held  the  office  of  General.  T/ie  Generals  had  become 
the  administrators  of  the  i/ocer)iment.  It  was  usually  they  who 
proposed  to  the  Assembly  the  levy  of  troops,  the  building  of 
ships,  the  raising  of  money,  the  making  of  peace  or  war. 
Then,  when  the  Assembly  decided  to  do  any  of  these 
things,  the  Generals  saiv  to  the  execution  of  them.  Tliey  were 
subject  absolutely  to  the  control  of  the  Assembly,  but  they  had 
great  opportunities  to  influence  it :  they  could  call  sj^ecial 
meetings  at  will,  and  they  had  the  right  to  speak  whenever 
they  wished. 

But  any  uian  had  full  right  to  try  to  persuade  the  Assembly, 
whether  he  held  office  or  not ;  and  the  more  prominent  speakers 
and  leaders  were  known  as  "  leaders  of  the  people "  (dema- 
gogues). Kven  though  lie  held  no  office,  a  "leader  of  the 
people,"  trusted  by  the  po])ular  party,  exerci-sed  a  greater 
authority  than  any  General  could  tvithout  that  trust.  To 
make  things  work  smoothly,  therefore,  it  was  desirable  that 
the  Board  of  Generals  should  contain  the  "  leader  of  the 
people  "  for  the  time  being.  Pericles  was  recognized  "  dema- 
gogue "  for  many  years,  and  was  usually  elected  each  year 
president  of  the  Board  of  Generals. 

210.  The  Assembly^  met  on  the  Pnyx,-  a  sloping  hill  whose 
side  formed  a  kind  of  natural  theater.  There  were  forty 
regular  meetings  each  year,  and  many  special  meetings.  Thus 
a  patriotic  citizen  was  called  n])on  to  give  at  least  one  day  a 
week  to  the  state  in  this  matter  of  jiolitical  meetings  alone. 

iQn  the  Assembly,  there  is  an  aclniiriible  treatment  in  Grant's  Age  of 
Pericles,  141-149.  2  gge  phvu  of  Athens,  page  202. 


204         THE    C5REEKS  — ATHENIAN   LEADERSHIP      [§211 

The  Assembly  had  bocomc  thonniglily  democratic  and  had 
made  great  gains  in  jjower  since  ('listhenes'  time.  All  public 
offi(Mals  had  become  its  obedient  servants.  The  Council  of  Vive 
Hundi'cd  (§  ir)2)  existed  not  to  guide  it,  but  to  do  its  bidding. 
The  Generals  were  its  creatures,  and  might  be  deposed  by  it  any 
day.  No  act  of  government  was  too  small  or  too  great  for  it  to 
deal  with.  Tlie  Asxembhi  of  Athena  ii-ks  to  the  greatest  empire  of  the 
world  in  that  day  all,  and  more  than  all,  that  a  New  England  towny 
meeting  ever  was  to  its  little  town.  It  was  as  if  the  citizens  of  Boston  ' 
or  Chicago  were  to  meet  day  by  day  to  govern  tlie  United  States, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  to  attend  to  all  their  own  local  affairs.  ^ 

211.  "Juries"  of  citizens  were  introduced  by  Solon,  and 
their  importance  became  fully  developed  under  Pericles.  Six 
thousand  citizens  were  chosen  by  lot  each  year  for  this  duty, 
from  those  who  offered  themselves  for  the  service  —  mostly 
the  older  men  past  the  age  for  active  work.  One  thousand 
of  these  were  held  in  reserve.  The  others  were  divided  into 
ten  Jury  courts  of  five  hundred  men  each. 

The  Assembly  turned  over  the  trial  of  officials  to  the 
juries.  With  a  view  to  this  duty,  each  juror  took  an  oath 
"  above  all  things  to  favor  neither  tyranny  nor  oligarchy,  nor 
in  any  way  to  prejudice  [injure]  the  sovereignty  oi  the  people." 
The  juries  also  settled  all  disputes  between  separate  cities 
of  the  empire ;  they  were  courts  of  appeal  for  important 
cases  between  citizens  in  a  subject  city ;  and  they  were  the 
ordinary  law  courts  for  Athenians.  An  Athenian  jury 
was  "  both  judge  and  jury  "  :  it  decided  each  case  by  a  ma- 
jority vote,  and  there  ivas  no  appeal  from  its  verdict. 

Thu.s  these  large  bodies  had  not  even  the  check  that  our  small  juries 
have  in  trained  judges  to  guide  them.  No  doubt  they  gave  many  wrong 
verdicts.  Passion  and  pity  and  bribery  all  interfered,  at  times,  with  even- 
handed  justice  ;  hut,  on  the  tchole,  the  system  icorked  astoiishinr/lt/  irell. 
In  particular,  any  citizen  of  a  subject  city  was  sure  to  get  redress  from 
these  courts,  if  he  had  been  wronged  by  an  Athenian  ofi&cer.  And  rich 
criminals  found  it  quite  as  hard  to  bribe  a  majority  of  500  jurors  as  such 
offenders  find  it  among  us  to  "  influence  "  some  judge  to  shield  them  with 
legal  technicalities. 


§213]  POLITICAL  ABILITY  205 

212.  State  Pay.  —  Since  these  courts  had  so  great  weight, 
and  since  they  tried  political  offenders,  it  was  essential  that 
they  should  not  fall  wholly  into  the  hands  of  the  rich.  To 
prevent  this,  Pericles  introduced  a  small  payment  for  jury 
duty.  The  amount,  three  obols  a  day  (about  nine  cents),  would 
furnish  a  day's  food  for  one  person  in  Athens,  but  it  would  not 
support  a  family. 

Afterward,  Pericles  extended  public  payment  to  other  po- 
litical services.  Aristotle  (a  (rieek  writer  a  century  or  so 
later)  says  that  some  20,000  men  —  over  half  the  whole  body 
of  citizens  —  were  constantly  in  the  pay  of  the  state.  Half 
of  this  number  were  soldiers,  in  garrisons  or  in  the  field.  But, 
besides  the  6000  jurymen,  there  were  the  500  Councilmen, 
700  city  officials,^  700  more  officials  representing  Athens 
throughout  the  empire,  and  many  inferior  state  servants;  so 
that  ahvays  from  a  third  to  a  fourth  of  the  citizens  were  in  the 
civil  service.- 

Pericles  has  been  accused  sometimes  of  ••  corrupting  "  the  Athenians 
by  the  introduction  of  payment.  But  there  is  no  proof  that  the  Atheni- 
ans were  corrupted :  and.  further,  such  a  system  was  inevitable  when 
the  democracy  of  a  little  city  became  the  master  of  an  empire.  It  was 
quite  as  natural  and  proper  as  is  the  payment  of  congressmen  and  judges 
with  us. 

213.  Athenian  Political  Ability.  —  Many  of  the  offices  in 
Athens  could  be  held  only  once  by  the  same  man,  so  that  each 
Athenian  citizot  could  count  vpon  servinrj  his  ritj/  at  some  time 
i)i  almost  ever>i  office.  Politics  was  his  occupation ;  office- 
holding,  his  regular  business. 

Such  a  system  could  not  have  worked  without  a  high 
average  of  intelligence  in  the  people.  It  did  Avork  well. 
With  all  its  faults,  the  rule  of  Athens  in  Greece  was 
vastly  superior  to  the  rude   despotism   that   followed   under 

1  Overseers  of  weights  and  measures,  hai-bor  inspectors,  and  so  on. 

^  Civil  service  is  a  term  used  in  coiitra.st  to  military  service.  Our  post- 
masters are  among  tlie  civil  servants  of  the  United  States,  as  a  city  engineer 
or  a  fireman  is  in  the  city  civil  service. 


206         TIIK   (iRKKKS      ATIIKNIAX    LKADERSHIP      [§214 

S})arta,  or  tlie  anarchy  under  Thubes  (§§  '2o',i,  267).  It  gave 
to  a  large  part  of  the  Hellenic  world  a  peace  and  security 
never  enjoyed  before,  or  after,  until  the  rise  of  Roman  power. 
Athens  itself,  moreover,  was  governed  better  and  more  gently 
than  oligarchic  cities  like  Corinth. 

"The  Athenian  (h'lnocraoy  made  a  greater  number  of  citizens  fit  to 
use  power  than  could  be  made  fit  by  any  other  system.  .  .  .  The 
As.sembly  was  an  assembly  of  citizens  —  of  average  citizens  without 
sifting  or  selection  ;  l)ui  it  was  an  assembly  of  citizens  amomj  whom  the 
political  average  stood  /liijher  than  it  ever  did  in  any  other  slate.  .  .  . 
The  Athenian,  by  constantly  hearing  questions  of  foreign  policy  and 
domestic  administration  argued  by  the  greatest  orators  the  world  ever 
saw,  received  a  political  training  which  nothing  else  in  the  history  of 
mankind  has  l)een  found  to  equal.'"  ^ 

214.  The  Final  Verdict  upon  the  Empire.  —  It  is  easy  to  see 

tliat  the  Athenian  system  was  imperfect,  tried  by  our  standard 
of  government ;  but  it  is  more  to  the  point  to  see  that  it  was 
an  advance  over  anything  ever  before  attempted. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  Athens  did  not  continue  to  admit 
aliens  to  citizenship,  as  in  Clisthenes'  day.  It  is  to  be 
regretted  that  .she  did  not  extend  to  the  men  of  her  subject 
cities  that  sort  of  citizenship  which  she  did  leave  to  her 
cleruchs.  But  the  important  thing  is,  that  she  had  moved 
farther  than  had  any  other  state  up  to  this  time.  The  admis- 
sion of  aliens  by  Clisthenes  and  the  cleruch  citizenship  (§  206) 
were  notable  advances.  77ie  broadest  policy  of  an  age  ought  not 
to  be  condemned  as  narrow. 

215.  Parties:  A  Summary.  —  A  few  words  will  review  party  his- 
tory up  to  the  leadership  of  Pericles.  All  factions  in  Athens  had  united 
patriotically  against  Persia,  and  afterward  in  fortifying  the  city  ;  but  the 
brief  era  of  good  feeling  was  followed  by  a  renewal  of  party  strife.  The 
Aristocrats  rallied  around  Cimon,  while  the  two  wings  of  the  democrats 
were  led  at  first,  as  before  the  invasion,  by  Aristides  and  Themistocles. 


1  Freeman's  Federal  Government.    Read  a  spicy  paragraph  in  Wheeler's 
.ilexander  the  Great,  ll(j,  117. 


§  216]  PERICLES  207 

Theuiistocles  was  ostracized,  and  liis  friend  Ephialtes  became  the  leader 
of  the  extreme  democrats.  When  Ephialtes  was  assassinated  (§  196), 
Pericles  stepped  into  his  place. 

216.  Pericles.  —  The  aristocratic  party  had  been  ruined  by 
its  pro-Spartan  policy  (§§  197,  198).  The  two  divisions  of  the 
democrats  reunited,  and  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  Pericles 
was  in  practice  as  absolute  as  a  dictator.  Thucydides  calls 
Athens  during  this  period  '*  a  democracy  in  name,  ruled  in 
reality  by  its  ablest  citizen." 

Pericles  belonged  to  the  ancient  nobility  of  Athens,  but 
to  families  that  had  always  taken  the  side  of  the  people.  His 
mother  was  the  niece  of  Clisthenes  the  reformer,  and  his 
father  had  impeached  Miltiades  (§  169),  so  that  the  enmity 
between  Cimon  and  Pericles  was  hereditary.  The  supremacy 
of  Pericles  rested  in  no  wa}'  upon  the  flattering  arts  of  later 
popular  leaders.  His  proud  reserve  verged  on  haughtiness, 
and  he  was  rarely  seen  in  public.  He  scorned  to  show  emotion. 
His  stately  gravity  and  unrutHed  calm  were  styled  Olympian 
by  his  admirers  —  who  added  that,  like  Zeus,  he  could  on 
occasion  overbear  opposition  by  the  majestic  thunder  of  his 
oratory. 

The  great  authority  of  Pericles  came  from  no  public  office. 
He  was  elected  General,  it  is  true,  fifteen  times,  and  in  the 
board  of  ten  generals,  he  had  far  more  weight  than  any  other 
had;  but  this  was  because  of  his  unofficial  position  as  "leader 
of  the  people  "  (§  209).  General  or  not,  he  was  master  only  so 
long  as  he  could  carry  the  Assembly  with  him  ;  and  he  was  com- 
pelled to  defend  each  of  his  measures  against  all  who  chose  to 
attack  it.  The  long  and  steady  confidence  given  him  honors 
the  people  of  Athens  no  less  than  it  honors  Pericles  himself. 
His  noblest  praise  is  that  which  he  claimed  for  himself 
upon  his  deathbed,  —  that,  with  all  his  authority,  and  despite 
the  bitterness  of  party  strife,  "  no  Athenian  has  had  to  put  on 
mourning  because  of  me." 

Pericles  stated  his  own  policy  clearly.  As  to  the  empire, 
he  sought  to  make  Athens  at  once  the  ruler  and  the  teacher  of 


208         INTELLKCTUAL  AND   ARTISTIC   ATHENS      [§217 

Ifollas,  —  tlie  political  and  intellectual  center.  Withiu  the 
city  itself,  lie  wished  the.  j^c-ojjle  to  rule,  not  merely  in  theory, 
but  in  fact,  as  the  best  means  of  training  them  for  high 
responsibilities. 

C.    Intellkctual  and  Aktistk;  Athkns 

217.  The  True  Significance  of  Athens.  —  After  all,  in  politics  and 
war,  Hellas  has  had  superiors.  Her  true  service  to  mankind  and  her 
imperishable  glory  lie  in  her  literature,  her  philosophy,  and  her  art.  It 
was  in  the  Athens  of  Pericles  that  these  forms  of  Greek  life  developed  most 
fully,  and  this  fact  makes  the  real  meaning  of  that  city  in  history. 

218.  Architecture  and  Sculpture.  —  Part  of  the  policy  of  Peri- 
cles was  to  adorn  Athens  from  the  surplus  revenues  of  the 
empire.  The  injustice  of  this  is  plain;  but  the  result  was  to 
make  the  city  the  most  beautiful  in  the  world,  so  that,  ever 
since,  her  mere  ruins  have  enthralled  the  admiration  of  men. 
Greek  art  was  just  reaching  its  perfection;  and  everywhere  in 
Athens,  under  the  charge  of  the  greatest  artists  of  this  great- 
est artistic  age,  arose  temples,  colonnades,  porticoes, — inimi- 
table to  this  day. 

"  No  description  can  give  anything  but  a  very  inadequate  idea  of  the 
splendor,  the  strength,  the  beauty,  which  met  the  eye  of  the  Athenian, 
whether  he  walked  round  the  fortifications,  or  through  the  broad  streets 
of  the  Piraeus,  or  along  the  Long  Walls,  or  in  the  shades  of  the  Acad- 
emy, or  amidst  the  tombs  of  the  Ceramicus  ;  whether  he  chaffered  in  the 
market  place,  or  attended  assemblies  in  the  Pnyx,  or  loitered  in  one  of 
the  numerous  porticoes,  or  watched  the  exercises  in  the  Gymnasia,  or  lis- 
tened to  music  in  the  Odeum  or  plays  in  the  theaters,  or  joined  the  throng 
of  worshipers  ascending  to  the  great  gateway  of  the  Acropolis.  And  this 
magnificence  was  not  the  result  of  centuries  of  toil ;  it  was  the  work  of 
fifty  years.  .  .  .  Athens  became  a  vast  workshop,  in  which  artisans  of 
every  kind  found  employment,  all,  in  their  vai'ious  degrees,  contributing 
to  the  execution  of  the  plans  of  the  master  minds,  Phidias.  Ictinus,  Calli- 
crates,  Mnesicles,  and  others."  —  Abbott.  Pericles,  303-308. 

The  center  of  this  architectural  splendor  was  the  ancient 
citadel  of  the  Acropolis.      That  massive  rock  now  became  the 


218] 


ARCHITECTURE   AND   SCULPTURE 


209 


210        INTELLECTUAL  AND   ARTISTIC  ATHENS      [§219 

"  holy  hill.''  No  longer  needed  as  a  fortification,  it  was  crowned 
witli  whit(!  marble,  and  devoted  to  religion  and  art.  It  was 
inaccessible  oxcej)t  on  the  west.  Here  was  built  a  stately- 
stairway  of  sixty  marble  steps,  leading  to  a  series  of  noble 
colonnades  and  porticoes  {the  Propylaea)  of  surpassing  beauty. 
From  these  the  visitor  emerged  upon  the  leveled  top  of  the 
Acropolis,  to  find  himself  surrounded  by  temples  and  statues, 
any  one  of  which  alone  might  make  the;  fame  of  the  proudest 


The  Acropolis  To-day. 

modern  city.  Just  in  front  of  the  entrance  stood  the  colossal 
bronze  statue  of  Athene  the  Champion,  whose  broad  spear  point, 
glittering  in  the  sun,  was  the  first  sign  of  the  city  to  the  mar- 
iner far  out  at  sea.  On  the  right  of  the  entrance,  and  a  little 
to  the  rear,  was  the  temple  of  the  Wingless  Victory^;  and  near 
the  center  of  the  open  space  rose  the  larger  structures  of  the 
Erechiheum  -  and  the  Parthenon. 

219.  The  Parthenon  ("  maiden's  chamber  ")  was  the  temple 
of  the  virgin  goddess  Athene.  It  remains  absolutely  peerless 
in  its  loveliness  among  the  buildings  of  the  world.  It  was  in 
the  Doric  style,^  and  of  no  great  size, — only  some  100  feet  by 

1  See  the  illustration  on  page  159. 

2  A  temple  to  Ereclitheus,  an  ancestral  god  of  Attica.    See  page  212. 

8  See  §  154  for  explanation  of  this  and  other  terms  used  in  this  description. 
See  also  pages  156,  158,  212,  221,  for  illustrations  of  the  Parthenon. 


§219] 


THR  PARTHENON 


211 


250,  while  the  marble  ])ilhir8  suppoitiiig  its  low  ])ediiuent  rose 
only  34  feet  froiu  their  base  of  three  receding  steps.  The  ef- 
fect was  due,  not  to  the  sublimity  and  grandeur  of  vast  masses, 
but  to  the  perfection  of  proportion,  to  exquisite  beauty  of  line, 
and  to  the  delicacy  and  profusion  of  ornament.  On  this  struc- 
ture, indeed,  was  lavished  without  stint  the  highest  art  of  the 


PkuPYLAKA   UV    IHK    At  KOI'OI.IS   T()-I>AV, 


art  capital  of  all  time.  The  fifty  life-size  and  colossal  statues 
in  the  pediments,  and  the  four  thousand  square  feet  of  smaller 
reliefs  in  the  frieze  were  all  finished  with  perfect  skill,  even 
in  the  unseen  parts.  The  frieze  represents  an  Athenian  pro- 
cession, carrying  offerings  to  the  patron  goddess  Athene  at 
the  greatest  religious  festival  of  Athens.  Nearly  500  different 
figures  were  carved  upon  this  frieze.*     As  with  all  Greek  tem- 

1  These  reliefs  are  now  for  the  most  part  in  tlie  British  Museum  and  are 
often  refernnl  to  as  tlie  E/f/in  Mdrbles,  from  tlie  fact  tliat  Loni  Kltjin  seeured 
them,  sliortly  after  18(K),  for  tiie  Eiii^iisli  government.  The  student  can  judge 
of  the  original  position  of  part  of  tlie  sculpture  on  the  huililing  from  the  illus- 
tration of   the    Parthenon    o;i    pa'^^e    '1'1\.     The    frieze    within    the    colonnade 


212        INTELLECTUAL  AND  ARTrSTiC   ATHENS      [§220 

))Ies,  tlie  Icuiils  oT  .stone  above  the  coluiiiiis  were  painted  in 
brilliant  reds  and  blues;  and  the  faces  of  the  sculptures  were 
tint(Ml  in  lifelike  hues. 

About  230  years  a^o,  when  the  Turks  held  Athens,  tliey  used  the 
Parthenon  as  a  powder  house.  An  enemy's  cannon  ball  exjjloded  the 
magazine,  blowing  the  temple  into  ruins,  much  as  we  .see  them  to-day. 


Erechtheum  (foreground)  and  Pakthenon.  This  view  gives  the  contrast 
between  the  delicacy  of  the  louic  style  and  the  simple  dignity  of  the  Doric. 
Cf.  §  154. 

220.  Phidias.  —  The  ornamentation  of  the  Parthenon,  within 
and  without,  was  cared  for  by  Phidias  and  his  pupils.  Phidias 
still  ranks  as  the  greatest  of  sculptors.^  jNIuch  of  the  work  on 
the   Acropolis  he  merely   planned,  bnt   the   great   statues   of 

(§  154)  cannot  be  shown  in  sucn  pictures.    It  was  a  band  of  relief,  about  four 
feet  in  width,  running  entirely  around  the  temple. 

1  Phidias  has  been  rivaled,  if  at  all,  only  by  his  pupil,  Praxiteles.  The 
Hermes  of  Praxiteles  is  one  of  the  few  great  works  of  antiquity  that  survive 
to  us;  and  of  his  Satyr  we  have  a  famous  copy  in  Rome,  which  plays  a  part 
in  Hawthorue's  novel.  The  Marble  Faun.     See  pages  227,  254. 


§220] 


THE  PARTHENON 


213 


Athene  were  his  special  work.  The  bronze  statue  has  already 
been  mentioned.  Besides  this,  there  was,  tvithin  the  temple, 
an  even  more  glorious  statue  in  gold  and  ivory,  smaller  than 
the  other,  but  still  live  or  six  times  larger  than  life.'  Profes- 
sor Mahaffy  has  said  of  all  this  Parthenon  sculpture :  — 

"  The  beauty  and  perfection  of  all  the  invisible  parts  are  such  that  the 
cost  of  labor  and  money  must  have  been  enormous.    There  is  no  sliow 


FlIilUKS    FKOM    THK    Pa  1{T1[  KM  ).\     FhIK/K. 

whatever  for  much  of  this  extraordinary  finish,  which  can  only  be  seen 
by  going  on  the  roof  or  by  opening  a  wall.  Yet  the  religiousness  of  the 
unseen  work-  has  secured  that  what  is  seen  shall  be  perfect  with  no 
ordinary  perfection." 

1  These  two  works  divide  the  honor  of  Phidias'  great  fame  with  his  Zeus 
at  01ymi)ia,  which,  in  tlie  opinion  of  the  ancients,  surpassed  all  otlier  sculpture 
in  grandeur.  Phidias  said  that  he  planned  the  latter  work,  thinking  of 
Homer's  Zpus,  at  the  nod  of  whose  ambrosial  locks  Olympus  trembled. 

'^Compare  Longfellow's  lines,  — 

"  In  the  older  days  of  art, 
Builders  wrought,  with  utmost  care, 
Each  obscure  and  unseen  part,  — 
For  the  gods  see  everywhere." 


214         INTKLLECTUAL  AND 'artistic   ATFIKNS      [§221 


221.  The   Drama.—  In  the  a^'o  of  I'cricl.'s,  the  chief  form  of 
poetry  becaiiu!  the  hru/ic  (Irama  — the  hij,'hest  development  of 

Greek  literature.  As 
the  tenth  century  was 
the  e\>\(',  age,  and  the 
seventh  and  sixth 
the  lyric  (§  155),  so 
the  fifth  century  be- 
gins the  dramatic 
period. 

The  drama  began  in 
the  songs  and  dances 
of  a  chorus  in  honor 
of  J)ionysus,  god  of 
wine,  at  the  spring 
festival  of  flowers  and 
at  the  autumn  vintage 
festival.  The  leader 
of  the  chorus  came  at 
length  to  recite  stories, 
between  the  songs. 
Thespis  (§  146)  at 
Athens,  in  the  age  of 
Fisistratus,  had  de- 
veloped this  leader 
into  an  actor,  —  ajjart 
from  the  chorus  and 
currying  on  dialogue 
ivith  it.  Now  Aeschy- 
lus added  another 
actor,  and  his  younger 
rival,  Sophocles,  a 
third.*  Aeschylus,  Sophocles,  and  their  successor,  Euripides, 
are  the  three  greatest  Greek  dramatists.     Together  they  pro- 

1  The  Greek  tragedy  never  permitted   more  than  three  actors  upon  the 
stage  at  OTie  time.    The  Greek  drama  cannot  be  compared  easily  with  the 


SoPHorLEs  —  a  portrait-statue,  ikiw  in  tlie 
Lateran  Museum  at  Rome. 


222] 


THE   GREEK   THEATER 


215 


duced  some  two  hundred  plays,  of  which  thirty-one  survive. 
Their  plays  were  all  trarjedies. 

Comedy  also  grew  out  of  the  worship  of  the  wine  god,  —  not 
from  the  great  religious  festivals,  however,  but  from  the  rude 
village  merrymakings.  Even  upon  the  stage,  comedy  kept 
traces  of  this  rude  origin  in  occasional  coarseness;  and  it  was 


Theater  of  Dionysus  —  present  condition. 

sometimes  misused,  to  abuse  men  like  Pericles  and  Socrates. 
Still,  its  great  master,  AristopJuines,  for  his  wit  and  genius, 
must  always  remain  one  of  the  bright  names  in  literature. 
222.  The  Theater.  —  Every  Greek  city  had  its  ''theaters." 
A  theater  was  a  semicircular  arrangement  of  rising  seats, 
often  cut  into  a  hillside,  with  a  small  stage  at  the  open  side  of 
the  circle  for  the  actors.  There  was  no  inclosed  building,  ex- 
cept sometimes  a  few  rooms    for  the  actors,   and   there  was 

nuKlHi-n.  Sophocles  and  .Shiikesi)eare  dilTer  somevvhiit  as  the  Parthenon  <liffers 
from  a  vast  cathedral.  In  a  (;rccl<  play  the  scene  never  chaiifjcd,  and  all  the 
action  liad  to  he  such  as  <'onld  hijve  taken  place  in  one  day.  Tiiat  is,  the 
"  unities"  of  time  and  place  were  strictly  preserved,  while  the  small  nuni* 
her  of  actors  made  it  easy  to  maintain  also  a  "  unity  of  action." 


216         INTELLECTUAL  AND  ARTISTIC   ATHENS      [§223 

none  of  the  f^orj^eous  stage  scenery  which  has  become  a  chief 
feature  of  our  thc^aters.  Neither  did  the  Greek  theater 
run  every  night.  I'erfornuinces  took  ])lace  at  only  two  j)eriods 
in  the  year  —  at  the  .sj^ing  and  autumn  festivals  to  Diony- 
sus—  for  about  a  week  cacih  season;  and  the  performance  of 
course  had  to  be  in  the  daytime. 

The  great  Tlieater  of  Dionysus,  in  Athens,  was  on  the  south- 
oast  slope  of  the  Acropolis  — the  rising  seats,  cut  in  a  semicircle 
into  the  rocky  bluff,  looking  forth,  beyond  the  stage,  to  the  hills 
of  southern  Attica  and  over  the  blue  waters  of  the  Aegean. 
It  could  seat  almost  the  whole  free  male  population.* 

Pericles  secured  from  the  public  treasury  the  admission  fee 
to  the  Theater  for  each  citizen  who  chose  to  ask  for  it.  This 
use  of  ''  theater  money "  was  altogether  different  from  the 
payment  of  officers  and  jurors.  It  must  be  kept  in  mind 
that  the  Greek  stage  was  the  modern  pulpit  and  press  in 
one.  The  practice  of  free  admission  was  designed  to  advance 
religious  and  intellectual  training,  rather  than  to  give  amuse- 
ment. Itivas  a  kind  of  public  education  for  grown-up  people. 
'  223.  Oratory  was  highly  developed.  Among  no  other  people 
has  public  speaking  been  so  important  and  so  effective.  Its 
special  home  was  Athens.  For  almost  two  hundred  years, 
from  Themistocles  to  Demosthenes  (§  272),  great  statesmen 
swayed  the  Athenian  state  by  the  power  of  sonorous  and  thrill- 
ing eloquence ;  and  the  emotional  citizens,  day  after  day,  packed 
the  Pnyx  to  hang  breathless  for  hours  upon  the  persuasive  lips 
of  their  leaders.  The  art  of  public  speech  was  studied  zeal- 
ously by  all  who  hoped  to  take  part  in  public  affairs. 

Unhappily,  Pericles  did  not  preserve  his  orations.  The  one 
quoted  below  (§  229)  seems  to  have  been  recast  by  Thucydides 
in  his  own  style.  But  fortunately  we  do  still  have  many  of 
the  orations  of  Demosthenes,  of  the  next  century;  and  from 
them  we  can  understand  how  the  union  of  fiery  passion,  and 

1  The  stone  seats  were  not  carved  out  of  the  hill  until  somewhat  later. 
During  the  age  of  Pericles,  the  men  of  Alliens  sat  on  the  ground,  or  on  stools 
which  they  brought  with  tbem,  all  over  the  hillside. 


§225] 


HISTORY  AND   PHILOSOPHY 


21? 


convincing  logic,  and  polished  beauty  of  language,  made  oratory- 
rank  with  the  drama  and  with  art  as  the  great  means  of  public 

education  for  Athenians. 

224.  History Prose  literature  now  appears,  with  history 

as  its  leading  form.    The  three  great  historians  of  the  period  are 

Herodotus,    Thucydides, 

SLnd  Xenophon.    For  charm 

in  story-telling  they  have 

never    been    excelled. 

Herodotus  was  a  native  ol 

Halicarnassus   (a  city   ol 

Asia  Minor).    He  traveled 

widely,    lived   long   at 

Athens   as   the  friend  ol 

Pericles,    and    finally    in 

Italy  composed  his  great 

History  of  the  Persian 
Wars,  Avith  an  introduc- 
tion covering  the' world's 

history  up  to  that  event. 
Thucydides,  an  Athenian 
general,  wrote  the  history 
of  the  Peloponuesian  War 
(§§  241  ff.)  in  which  he 
took  part.  Xenophon  be- 
longs rather  to  the  next 
century.     He  also  was  an 

Athenian.  He.  completed  the  story  of  the  Peloponnesian 
War,  and  gave  us,  with  other  works,  the  Anabasis,  an  account 
of  the  expedition  of  the  Ten  Thousand  Greeks  through  the 
Persian  empire  in  401  b.c.  (§  257). 

225.  Philosophy.'  —  The  age  of  Pericles  saw  also  a  rapid 
development  in  philosophy,  —  and  this  movement,  too,  had 
Athens  for  its  most  important  home.     Anaxagoras  of  Ionia, 

1  This  section  can  best  be  read  in  class,  and  talked  over.  It  may  well  be 
preceded  by  a  reading  of  §  15G  upon  the  earlier  Greek  philosophy. 


Thucydidks. 

A  portrait  bust;  now  in  the  Capitoline 
Museum  at  Rome. 


21S         INTKLLEC'TTTAL  AND   ARTISTIC   ATHENS      (§225 

the  friend  of  I'eiicles,  taiiglit  that  the  ruling  princii)le  in  tlie 
universe  was  Mind:  "  In  tlie  l)eginning  all  things  were  chaos; 
then  came  Intelligence,  and  set  all  in  order."  He  also  tried  to 
explain  comets  and  other  strange  natural  phenomena,  which 
had  been  looked  upon  as  miraculous. 

But,  like  Democritus  and  Empedodes  of  the  same  period, 
Anaxagoras  turned  in  the  main  from  the  old  (question  of  a 
fundamental  principle  to  a  new  problem.  The  philosophers 
of  the  sixth  century  had  tried  to  answer  the  question,  —  How 
did  the  universe  come  to  be  ?  The  philosophers  of  the  age  of 
Pericles  asked  mainly,  —  How  does  man  knoiu  about  the  uni- 
verse ?  That  is,  they  tried  to  explain  the  working  of  the  human 
mind.  These  early  attempts  at  explanation  were  not  very 
satisfactory,  and  so  next  came  the  Sophists,  with  a  skeptical 
philosophy.  Man,  the  Sophists  held,  cannot  reach  truth  itself, 
but  must  be  content  to  know  only  appearances.  They  taught 
rhetoric,  and  were  the  first  of  the  philosophers  to  accept  pay.^ 

Socrates,  the  founder  of  a  new  philosophy,  is  sometimes  con- 
founded with  the  Sophists.  Like  them,  Ke  abandoned  the 
attempt  to  understand  the  material  universe,  and  ridiculed 
gently  the  attempted  explanations  of  his  friend,  Anaxagoras. 
He  took  for  his  motto,  "  Knoiv  thyself, ^^  and  considered  philoso- 
phy to  consist  in  right  thinking  upon  human  conduct.  True 
wisdom,  he  taught,  is  to  knoiv  what  is  good  and  to  do  what  is 
right;  and  he  tried  to  make  his  followers  see  the  difference 
between  justice  and  injustice,  temperance  and  intemperance, 
virtue  and  vice. 

Thus  Socrates  completes  the  circle  of  ancient  philosophy.  The  whole 
development  may  be  summed  up  briefly,  as  follows  :  — 

1.   Thales  and  his  followers  (§  156)  tried  to  find  out  how  the  world  came 
to  be  —  out  of  what  "  first  principle  "  it  arose  (water,  fire,  etc.). 

1  Thus  these  philosophers  were  accused  of  advertising  for  gain,  to  teach 
youth  "how  to  make  the  worse  appear  the  better  reason,"  and  the  name 
"sophist"  received  an  evil  significance.  Many  of  the  Sophists,  however, 
were  brilliant  thinkers,  who  did  much  to  clear  away  old  mental  rubbish.  The 
most  famous  were  Gorgias,  the  rhetorician,  a  Sicilian  Greek  at  Athens,  and 
his  pupil,  Isocrates. 


§  227]  SOCRATES  219 

2.  Anaxagoras  and  his  contemporaries  tried  to  find  out  how  man's 

mind  could  understand  the  outside  world.  (His  teaching  that 
mind  was  the  real  principle  of  the  universe  formed  a  natural 
step  from  1  to  2.) 

3.  The  Sophists  declared  all  search  for  such  explanations  a  failure  — 

beyond  the  power  of  the  human  mind. 

4.  Socrates  sought  to  know,  not  about  the  outside  world  at  all,  but 

about  himself  and  his  duties. 

226.  The  Man  Socrates.  —  Socrates  was  a  poor  man,  an  artisan 
who  carved  little  images  of  the  gods  for  a  living;  and  he  con- 
stantly vexed  his  wife,  Xanthippe,  by  neglecting  his  trade,  to 
talk  in  the  market  place.  He  wore  no  sandals,  and  dressed 
meanly.  His  large  bald  head  and  ngly  face,  with  its  thick 
lips  and  flat  nose,  made  him  good  sport  for  the  comic  poets. 
His  [)ractice  was  to  entrap  unwary  antagonists  into  public  con- 
versation by  asking  innocent-looking  questions,  and  then,  by 
the  inconsistencies  of  their  answers,  to  show  how  shallow  their 
opinions  were.  This  proceeding  afforded  huge  merriment  to 
the  crowd  of  youths  who  followed  the  bare-footed  philosopher,  and 
it  made  him  bitter  enemies  among  his  victims.  But  his  method 
of  argument  (which  we  still  call  "  the  Socratic  method  ")  was 
a  permanent  addition  to  our  intellectual  weapons;  and  his 
beauty  of  soul,  his  devotion  to  knowledge,  and  his  largeness 
of  spirit  make  him  the  greatest  name  in  Greek  history.  When 
seventy  years  old  (399  b.c.)  he  was  accused  of  impiety  and  of 
corrupting  the  youth.  He  refused  to  defend  himself  in  any 
ordinary  way,  and  was  therefore  declared  guilty.  His  accusers 
then  proposed  a  death  penalty.  It  was  the  privilege  of  the 
condemned  num  to  propose  any  other  penalty,  and  let  the  jury 
choose  between  the  two.  Instead  of  proposing  a  considerable 
fine,  as  his  friends  wished,  Socrates  said  first  that  he  really 
ought  to  propose  that  he  be  maintained  in  honor  at  the  public 
expense,  but,  in  deference  to  his  friends'  entreaties,  he  finally 
proposed  a  small  fine.  The  angered  jury,  by  a  close  vote,  pro- 
nounced the  death  penalty. 

227.  Socrates  on  Obedience  to  Law  and  on  Immortality.  — 
Socrates  refused  also  to  escape  before  the  day  for  his  execution. 


220         INTELLECTUAL  AND  ARTISTIC  ATHENS      [§227 

Frionds  liad  made  arrangements  for  his  escape,  but  he  answered 
their  earnest  entreaties  by  a  playful  discourse,  of  which  the 
substance  was,  —  "Death  is  no  evil;  but  for  Socrates  to  'play 
truant,'  and  injure  the  laws  of  his  country,  would  be  an  evil." 
After  memorable  conversations  upon  immortality,  he  drank 
the  fatal  hemlock  with  a  gentle  jest  upon  his  lips.^  His 
execution  is  the  greatest  blot  upon  the  intelligence  of  the 
Athenian  democracy. 

it  happened  that  the  trial  had  taken  place  just  before 
the  annual  sailing  of  a  sacred  ship  to  J)elos  to  a  festival  of 
Apollo.  According  to  Athenian  law,  no  execution  could  take 
])lac('  until  the  return  of  this  vessel.  Thus  for  thirty  days, 
Socrates  remained  in  jail,  conversing  daily  in  his  usual  manner 
Avitli  groups  of  friends  who  visited  him.  Two  of  his  disciples 
(l^lato  and  Xenophon)  have  given  us  accounts  of  these  talks. 
On  the  last  day,  the  theme  was  immortality.  Some  of  the-^friends 
fear  that  death  may  be  an  endless  sleep,  or  that  the  soul,  on 
leaving  the  body,  may  "  issue  forth  like  smoke  .  .  .  and  vanish 
into  nothingness."  But  Socrates  comforts  and  consoles  them,  — 
convincing  them,  by  a  long  day's  argument,  that  the  soul  is 
immortal,  and  picturing  the  lofty  delight  he  anticipates  in 
a])plying  his  Socratic  questionings  to  the  heroes  and  sages  of 
olden  times,  when  he  meets  them  soon  in  the  abode  of  the 
blest.  Then,  just  as  the  fatal  hour  arrives,  one  of  the  company 
(Crito)  asks,  "In  what  way  would  you  have  us  bury  you?" 
Socrates  rejoins :  — 

"  '  In  any  way  you  like  :  only  you  must  first  get  hold  of  me,  and  take 
care  that  I  do  not  walk  away  from  you.'  Then  he  turned  to  us,  and 
added,  with  a  smile  :  '  I  cannot  make  Crito  believe  that  /am  the  same 
Socrates  who  has  been  talking  with  you.  He  fancies  that  I  am  another 
Socrates  whom  he  will  soon  see  a  dead  body  —  and  he  asks,  How  shall  he 
bury  me?  I  have  spoken  many  words  to  show  that  I  shall  leave  you  and 
go  to  the  joys  of  the  blessed  ;  but  these  words,  with  which  I  comforted 
you,  have  had,  I  see,  no  effect  upon  Crito.    And  so  I  want  you  to  be 

1  Special  report:  the  trial  and  death  of  Socrates.  See  Plato's  Apology, 
Xenophou's  Memorabilia,  and  other  accounts. 


228] 


SUMMARY 


221 


sui-ety  for  me  now,  as  Crito  was  surety  [bail]  for  me  at  my  trial,  — but 
with  another  sort  of  j^romise.  For  he  promised  the  judges  that  I  would 
remain  ;  but  you  must  be  my  surety  to  him  that  I  shall  not  remain.  Then 
he  will  not  be  grieved  when  he  sees  merely  my  body  burned  or  buried.  I 
would  not  have  him  sorrow  at  my  lot,  or  say.  Thus  we  follow  Socrates  to 
the  grave  ;  for  false  words  such  as  these  infect  the  soul.  Be  of  good 
cheer,  then,  my  dear  Crito,  and  say  that  you  are  burying  my  body  only  — 
and  do  with  tliat  what  is  usual,  or  as  you  think  best.'  "  • 

228.    Summary.  —  The  amazing  extent  and  intensity  of  Athenian 
culture  overi)owor  tlie  imagination.     With  few  exceptions,  the 


-J 

talllfl^Hi£««n|nSIHdB!i^  >tiA<jiW?W 

^H 

^^fc.  ^vi.^iillH  1 1  ^aJSni^l^lH 

^^1 

^^^^^^■J^Cl.'  'iv    ^"^^^^^^^^^^1 

H-    * 

^jS^.  <<g: 

JSU^^^ 

- -i.5^^^^^^^H 

BjO 

The  Acropolis,  as  "  restored  "  by  Lambert. 

famous  men  mentioned  in  §§  220-225  were  Athenian  citizens. 
In  the  fiftli  century  u.e.  that  one  city  gave  birth  to  more  great 
men  of  the  first  rank,  it  has  been  said,  than  the  ichole  tvorld  has 
ever  produced  in  any  other  equal  period  of  time. 
\_^' Artists,  phik)sophers,  and  writers  swarmed  to  Athens,  also, 
from  less-favored  parts  of  Hellas;  for,  despite  the  condemnation 
of  Socrates,  <jio  other  city  in  the  world  afforded  such  freedom 
of  thought^  and(^nowhere  else  was  ability,  in  art  or  literature,  ^ 

1  Anecdotes  of  Socrates  are  given  In  'D9.\\b' Readings,  Vol.  I,  Nos.  89-93. 


222         INTELLECTUAL  AND  ARTISTIC  ATHENS      [§229 

so  iippi'ociated.  The  names  that  have  been  mentionfd  give 
but  a  faint  iuiprcssioii  of  tlie  si)l(*n(li(l  thiongs  of  brilliant  poets, 
artists,  pliilosoj)]uMs,  and  orators,  wlio  jostled  each  other  in 
the  streets  of  Athens.  Tliis,  after  all,  is  the  best  justification 
of  the  Athenian  democracy.  Abbott  {History  of  Greece,  II,  415), 
one  of  its  sternest  modern  critics,  is  forced  to  exclaim,  ''  Never 
before  or  since  has  life  developed  so  richly  as  it  developed  in 
the  beautiful  city  which  lay  at  the  feet  of  the  virgin  goddess." ' 
229.  The  Tribute  of  Pericles  to  Athens.  —  The  finest  glorification 
of  tlio  Athenian  sjtirit  is  contained  in  the  great  funeral  oration 
delivered  by  Pericles  over  the  Athenian  dead,  at  the  close  of 
the  second  year  of  the  Pcloponncsian  War.  Thucydides  gives 
the  s])eech  and  represents  no  doubt  the  ideas,  if  not  the  words, 
of  the  orator  :  — 

"  And  we  liave  not  forgotten  to  provide  for  our  weary  spirits  many 
relaxations  from  toil.  We  have  our  regular  games  and  sacrifices  through- 
out the  year  ;  at  home  the  style  of  our  life  is  refined,  and  the  delight 
which  we  daily  feel  in  all  these  things  helps  to  banish  melancholy.  Be- 
cause of  the  greatness  of  our  city,  the  fruits  of  the  whole  earth  flow  in 
upon  us ;  so  that  we  enjoy  the  goods  of  other  countries  as  freely  as  of 
our  own.   .  .   . 

"  And  in  the  matter  of  education,  whereas  our  adversaries  from  early 
youth  are  always  undergoing  laborious  exercises  which  are  to  make  them 
brave,  we  live  at  ease,  and  yet  are  etjually  ready  to  face  the  perils  which 
they  face.  ...  If  then  we  prefer  to  meet  danger  with  a  light  heart  but 
without  laborious  training,  and  with  a  courage  which  is  gained  by  habit 
and  not  enforced  by  law,  are  we  not  greatly  the  gainers  ? 

"  We  are  lovers  of  the  beautiful,  yet  simple  in  our  tastes;  and  we  culti- 
vate the  mind  luithout  loss  of  manliness.  Wealth  we  employ,  not  for 
talk  and  ostentation,  but  when  there  is  a  real  use  for  it.  To  avow 
poverty  with  us  is  no  disgrace  ;  the  true  disgrace  is  in  doing  nothing  to 
avoid  it.  An  Athenian  citizen  does  not  neglect  the  state  because  he 
takes  care  of  his  own  household  ;  and  even  those  of  us  who  are  engaged 
in  business  have  a  very  fair  idea  of  politics.  We  alone  regard  a  man 
who  takes  no  interest  in  public  affairs,  not  as  a  harmless,  but  as  a  use- 
less character.  .  .  . 

1  The  patron  deity  of  Athens  was  Pallas  Athene,  the  virgin  godde.ss,  whose 
temple,  the  Partheuou,  ciowued  the  Acropolis. 


§  230]  LIMITATIONS  223 

"  In  the  hour  of  trial  Alliens  alone  is  superior  t(j  the  report  of  her. 
No  enemy  who  comes  against  her  is  indignant  at  the  reverses  which  he 
sustains  at  the  h;mds  of  such  a  city  ;  no  subject  complains  that  hia 
masters  are  unworthy  of  him.  And  we  shall  assuredly  not  be  without 
witnesses.  There  are  mighty  monuments  of  our  power  which  will  make 
us  the  wonder  of  this  and  of  succeeding  ages.  .  .  .  For  we  have  com- 
pelled every  land  and  every  sea  to  open  a  path  for  our  valor,  and  have 
everywhere  planted  eternal  memorials  of  our  friendship  and  of  our 
enmity.   .   .   . 

"To  sum  up  :  I  say  that  Athens  is  the  school  of  flellas,  and  that  the 
individual  Athenian  in  his  own  person  seems  to  have  the  power  of  adapt- 
ing him.self  to  the  most  varied  forms  of  action  with  the  utmost  versatility 
and  grace.  .  .  . 

'■'■  I  in<mld  have  you  day  by  day  fix  your  eyes  upon  the  greatness  of 
Athens,  until  you  become  filled  icith  the  love  of  her ;  and  when  you  are 
impressed  by  the  spectacle  of  her  glory,  reflect  that  this  empire  has  been 
accjuired  by  men  who  knew  their  duty  and  had  the  courage  to  do  it,  and 
who  in  tiie  hour  of  conflict  had  the  fear  of  di.shonor  always  present  to 
them.    ..." 

230.    Three  limitations  in  Greek  culture  must  be  noted. 

a.  It  rested  nect'ssiirlhi  on  shirer;/,  aiul  consequently  could 
not  honor  labor,  as  modern  culture  at  least  tries  to  do.  The 
main  business  of  the  citizen  was  government  and  war 
Trades  and  commerce  were  left  largely  to  the  free  non-citizen 
class,  and  unskilled  hand  labor  was  performed  mainly  by 
slaves.  As  a  rule,  it  is  true,  this  slavery  was  not  harsh.  In 
Athens,  ordinarily,  the  slaves  were  hardly  to  be  distinguished 
from  the  poorer  citizens.  They  were  frequently  Greeks,  of 
the  same  speech  and  culture  as  their  masters.  In  some  ways, 
this  made  their  lot  all  the  harder  to  bear ;  and  there  .was 
always  the  possibility  of  cruelty.  In  the  mines,  even  in 
Attica,  the  slaves  were  killed  off  brutally  by  merciless 
hardships. 

b.  Greek  culture  ivas  for  vuiles  onhj.  It  is  not  probable  that 
the  wife  of  Phidias  or  of  Thucydidos  could  read.  The  women 
of  the  working  classes,  especially  in  the  country,  necessarily 
mixed  somewhat  with  men  in  their  work.  But  among  the 
well-to-do,  women  had  lost  the  freedom  of  the  simple  and  rude 


224        INTELLECTUAL  AND  ARTLSTIO  ATHENS      (§230 

society  of  Homer's  time,  witliout  gaining  much  in  return.     Ex- 
cept at  Si)arta,  whtTo  pliysir-al  training  was  tliought  nt-erlful 


Women  at  their  Tuilet.  — From  a  vase  painting. 

for  them,  they  passed  a  secluded  life  even  at  home,  in  sepa- 
rate women's  apartments.     They  had  no  public  interests,  ap- 


WoMEX  AT  THEIR  TtHLET.  —  The  rest  of  the  vase  painting  sho^vn  above. 

peared  rarely  on  the  streets,  and  never  met  their  husbands' 
friends.  At  best,  they  were  only  higher  domestic  servants. 
The  chivalry  of  the  mediaeval  knight  toward  woman  and  the 


230] 


LIMITATIONS 


225 


love  of  the  modern  gentleman  for  his  wife  were  equally  un- 
thinkable by  the  best  Greek  society. 

The  rule  is  merely  emphasized  by  its  one  exception.  No 
--P^ccount  of  the  Athens  of  Pericles  should  omit  mention  of 
Aspasia.  She  was  a  native  of  JNIiletus,  and  had  come  to 
Athens  as  an  adventuress.  ^Nlauy  other  high-spirited  girls  no 
doubt  did  the  like,  in  inevitable  rebellion  against  the  shame- 
ful bondage  of  Greek  custom,  —  but  only  to  fall  into  a  life  more 
shameful.  But  Aspasia  won  the  love  of  Pericles.  Since  she 
was  not  an  Athenian 
citizen  he  could  not 
marry  her;  but,  until 
his  death,  he  lived 
with  her  in  all  re- 
spects as  his  wife  —  a 
union  not  grievously 
offensive  to  Greek 
ideas.  The  dazzling 
wit  and  beauty  of 
Aspasia  made  his 
home  the  focus  of  the 
intellectual  life  of  Athens.  Anaxagoras,  Socrates,  Phidias, 
Herodotus,  —  the  charming  group  of  brilliant  friends  of  Peri- 
cles,—  were  her  friends  also,  and  delighted  in  her  conversa^ 
tion.  Pericles  consulted  her  on  the  most  im])ortant  public 
matters.  lUit  she  is  the  only  woman  who  need  be  named  in 
Greek  history  after  the  time  of  Sappho  and  Corinna  (§  15o). 

c.  The  most  intellectual  Greeks  of  that  age  had  not  thought 
of  finding  out  the  truths  of  nature  by  experiment.  The  an- 
cients had  only  such  knowledge  of  the  world  about  them  as 
they  had  chanced  upon,  or  such  as  they  could  attain  by 
observation  of  nature  as  she  shoived  herself  to  them.  To  ask 
questions,  and  make  nature  answer  them  by  systematic  experi- 
ment, is  a  method  of  reaching  knowledge  which  belongs  only 
to  recent  times.  But,  before  the  Greeks,  men  had  reached 
about  all  the  mastery  over  nature  that  was  possible  without 


Greek  Women  at  their  Music. 
From  a  vase  painting. 


226        INTELLECTUAL  AND  ARTISTIC  ATHENS      [§230 


that  method.  The  average  Athenian  probably  excelled  the 
average  American  in  brain  power,  and  the  Greek  mind  per- 
formed wonders  in  literature  and  art  and  philosophy ;  hid  it 
did  little  to  advance  mail's  power  over  nature. 

This  limitation  should  not  be  overrated.  We  sometimes 
think  of  civilization  as  consisting  mainly  in  material  comforts. 

The  Greeks  knew  little  of 
such  things.  It  is  none 
too  easy  for  us  to  really 
picture  a  world  without 
railways,  or  telegraphs,  or 
electric  lights,  or  gas,  or 
coal,  or  refrigerator  cars 
to  bring  to  our  breakfast 
table  the  fruits  of  distant 
lands.  But,  to  make  the 
Greek  world  at  all  real  to 
us,  we  must  peel  off  from 
our  world  much  more  than 
this.  We  must  think  of 
even  the  best  houses  with- 
out plumbing  —  or  drains 
of  any  sort ;  beds  with- 
out sheets  or  springs; 
rooms  without  fire ;  travel- 
ing without  bridges;  shoes 
without  stockings ;  clothes 
without  buttons,  or  even  a 
hook  and  eye.  The  Greek  had  to  tell  time  without  a  watch, 
and  to  cross  seas  without  a  compass.  He  was  civilized  with- 
out being  what  we  should  call  "comfortable."  But,  perhaps 
all  the  more,  he  felt  keenly  the  beauty  of  sky  and  hill  and 
temple  and  statue  and  the  human  form.^ 

1  Myron  was  a  pontemporary  of  Phidias.  He  excelled  in  representing  the 
human  body  in  action. 

-  Tliis  i)assase  is  mostly  condensed  from  a  paragraph  in  Zimmern's  Greek 
CommomueaUh. 


Thk  JJi.sK  Tiiiiuwj.i;. 
After  Myron. ^    Now  in  the  Vatican. 


[§231 


MORAL  IDEALS 


227 


In  one  most  important  respect,  however,  this  lack  of  con- 
trol over  nature  was  a  serious  lack.  Without  modern  scien- 
tific knowledge,  aud  modern  machinery,  it  has  never  been 
possible  for  man  to  produce  wealth  fast  enough  so  that  manij 
could  take  sufficient  leisiire  for  refined  and  graceful  living. 
Even  with  us,  this  ability  is  so  new  that  we  have  not  yet 
learned  how  to  divkle  the  new  wcnlth  ]iv()])erly  ;  but  avp  fool 
sure  that  it  is  going  to  be 
done.  With  the  Greeks,  it 
could  not  be  done.  TJierc 
was  too  little  to  go  round. 
The  civilization  of  the 
few  rested  necessarily  upon 
slavery.  This  third  limi- 
tation (e)  was  tlie  cause  of 
the  first  (a). 

=^  231.  The  moral  side  of 
Greek  culture  falls  some- 
what short  of  the  in- 
tellectual side.  The  two 
religions,  of  the  clau  and 
of  the  Olympian  gods,  both 
kept  their  hold  upon  the 
faith  of  most  Athenians 
even  in  the  age  of  Pericles. 
Neither  had  much  to  do 
with  conduct  toivard  men. 
The  good  sense  and  clear 
thinking  of  the  Greeks 
had  freed  their  religion  from  the  grossest  features  of  Oriental 
worship ;  but  on  the  whole  their  moral  ideas  are  to  be  sought 
in  their  philosophy,  literature,  and  history,  rather  than  in  their 
stories  about  the  gods. 

The  Greeks  accepted  frankly  the  search  for  pleasure  as  nat- 
ural and  proper.  Self-sacrifice  had  little  place  in  their  ideal. 
They  lacked  altogether  the  Jewish  and  Christian  "sense  ot 


A  Satyr  by  Pkaxitilks. 
This  is  Hawthorne's  "  Marble  Faun." 


228         TNTELLKCTUAL  AND  ARTISTIC  ATHENS      (§232 

sin."  Tluiy  were  moved  to  iij,'lit  (toiidiict.,  not  by  tlio  ( Jliristian's 
.spirilnal  love  Jur  the  beauty  of  holiness,  l)ut  by  an  itUellectiial  ad- 
miration for  the  beauty  of  moderation  and  of  temperance.  Indi- 
viduiil  characters  at  once  lofty  and  lovable  were  not  numerous. 
No  society  ever  produced  so  many  great  men,  but  many  socie- 
ties have  produced  better  men.  Greek  excellence  was  intel- 
lect\ial  rather  than  moral.  Trickery  and  deceit  mark  most  of 
the  greatest  names,  and  not  even  physical  or  moral  bravery  can 
be  called  a  national  characteristic.  The  wily  Themistocles, 
rather  than  Socrates  or  Pericles,  is  the  typical  Greek  hero;_ 
and  even  when  seeking  to  entrap  the  Persians  by  his  secret 
message  at  Salamis,  Themistocles  seems  to  have  kept  in  mind 
the  possibility  of  claiming  Persian  rewards  if  Xerxes  should 
conquer. 

At  the  same  time,  a  few  individuals  tower  to  great  heights 
and  a  few  Greek  teachers  give  us  some  of  the  noblest  morality 
of  the  world.  Says  Mahaffy  (Social  Greece,  8),  after  acknowl- 
edging the  cruelty  and  barbarity  of  Greek  life :  "  Socrates  and 
Plato  are  far  superior  to  the  Jewish  moralists ;  they  are 
superior  to  the  average  Christian  moralist;  it  is  only  in  the 
matchless  teaching  of  C'hrist  himself  that  we  find  them  sur- 
passed." 

232.  Illustrative  Extracts.  —  The  following  passages  illustrate  the 
moral  ideas  of  the  best  of  the  Greeks.  They  are  taken  from  Athenian 
writers  of  the  age  of  Pericles,  and  represent  the  mountain  peaks  of  Greek 
thought,  not  its  average  level.  Still,  a  volume  of  such  passages  might  be 
put  together. 

a.   From  Aeschylus. 

"The  lips  of  Zeus  know  not  to  speak  a  lying  speech." 

"Justice  shines  in  smoke-grimed  houses  and  holds  in  regard  the  life 
that  is  righteous  ;  she  leaves  with  averted  eyes  the  gold-bespangled  palace 
which  is  unclean,  and  goes  to  the  abode  that  is  holy." 

h.  Antigone,  the  heroine  of  a  play  by  Sophocles,  has  knowingly  in- 
curred penalty  of  death  by  disobeying  an  unrighteous  command  of  a 
wicked  king.    She  justifies  her  deed  proudly,  — 


§232]  MORAL   IDEALS  229 

"  Nor  did  I  deem  thy  edicts  strong  enough 
That  thou,  a  mortal  man,  should' st  overpass 
The  unwritten  laws  of  God  that  know  no  change.^'' 

c.  From  Socrates  to  his  Judges  after  his  condemnation  to  death 
(Plato's  Apology).  —  "Wherefore,  O  judges,  be  of  good  cheer  about 
death,  and  know  this  of  a  truth  —  that  no  evil  can  happen  to  a  good  man, 
either  in  life  or  after  death.  He  and  his  are  not  neglected  by  the  gods. 
.  .  .  The  hour  of  departure  has  arrived,  and  we  go  our  ways  — ■  I  to  die, 
you  to  live.     Which  is  better,  God  only  knows." 

(I.  From  Plato  (the  gi-eatest  disciple  of  Socrates,  §  315).  —  "  My  counsel 
is  that  we  hold  fast  ever  to  the  heavenly  way  and  follow  justice  and  vir- 
tue. .  .  .  Thus  we  shall  live  dear  to  one  another  and  to  the  gods,  both 
while  remaining  here,  and  when,  like  conq^ierors  in  the  games,  we  go  to 
receive  our  reward.'' 

e.  A  Prayer  of  Socrates  (from  Plato's  Phaedrus).  —  "Beloved  Pan, 
and  all  ye  other  gods  who  haunt  this  place,  give  me  beauty  in  the  inward 
soul  ;  and  may  the  outward  and  inward  man  be  at  one.  May  I  reckon 
the  wise  to  be  the  wealthy,  and  may  I  have  such  a  quantity  of  gold  as 
none  but  the  temperate  can  carry." 

(The  quotations  from  Socrates'  talks  after  his  condemnation,  given  in 
§  227  above,  give  more  material  of  this  kind.  Fuller  passages  will  be 
found  in  Davis'  Headings,  Vol.  I,  Nos.  89-92.) 


For  Further  Reading.  —  Specially  suggested:  Davis'  Headings, 
"Vol.  I,  Nos.  76-80  (11  pages,  mostly  from  Plutarch  and  Thucydides)  ; 
and  Nos.  88-97  (24  pages)  ;  Bury,  363-378.   . 

Additional :  Valuable  and  very  readable  treatments  will  be  found  in 
any  of  the  three  excellent  volumes  mentioned  for  the  two  preceding  top- 
ics, —  Cox's  Athenian  Empire,  Grant's  Age  of  Pericles,  or  Abbott's  Peri- 
cles. Plutarch's  Pericles  ought  to  be  inviting,  from  the  extracts  in  Davis' 
Headings.  Dr.  Davis'  novel.  A  Victor  of  Salamis,  is  the  best  fiction 
for  Greek  history.  A  Day  in  Old  Athens,  by  tlie  same  author,  is  a  vivid 
presentation  of  various  matters  touched  upon  in  this  and  the  next  chapter. 

Exercise.  —  Count  up  and  classify  the  kinds  of  sources  of  our  knowledge 
about  the  ancient  world,  —  so  far  as  this  book  has  alluded  to  sources  of 
information.  'Note  here  the  suggestions  for  ^\fact-drills,'"  on  page  295, 
and  begin  to  prepare  the  lists. 


/ 


CHAPTEIl    XIV 

LIFE   IN    THE  AGE   OF   PERICLES 

233.  Houses,  even  tliose  of  tlie  ri(di,  were  very  simple.  The 
poor  could  not  attord  more;  and  the  rich  man  thought  his 
house  of  little  account.  It  was  merely  a  place  to  keep  his 
women  folk  and  young  children  and  some  other  valuable 
property,  and  to  sleep  in.     His  real  life  was  passed  outside. 

A  "well-to-do"  house  was  built  with  a  wooden  frame,  cov- 
ered with  sun-dried  clay.  Such  buildings  have  not  left  many 
remains :  and  most  of  what  we  know  about  them  comes  from 
brief  references  in  Greek  literature.  On  the  opposite  page  is 
given  the  ground  plan  of  one  of  the  few  private  houses  of  the 
tifth  century  which  has  been  unearthed  in  a  state  to  be  traced 
out.  This  house  was  at  Delos  ;  and  it  was  something  of  a 
mansion,  for  the  times. 

Houses  were  built  flush  with  the  street,  and  on  a  level  with 
it,  —  without  even  sidewalk  or  steps  between.  The  door,  too, 
usually  opened  out  —  so  that  passers-by  were  liable  to  bumps, 
\inless  they  kept  well  to  the  middle  of  the  narrow  street. 
In  this  Delos  mansion,  the  street  door  opened  into  a  small 
vestibule  (-4),  about  six  feet  by  ten.  This  led  to  a  square 
"  hall "  ip,  D,  D,  D),  which  was  the  central  feature  of  every 
(ireek  house  of  importance.  In  the  center  of  the  hall  there 
was  always  a  "  court,"  opeyi  to  the  sky,  and  surrounded  by  a 
row  of  columns.  The  columns  were  to  uphold  their  side  of 
the  hall  ceiling,  —  since  the  hall  had  no  wall  next  the  court, 
but  was  divided  from  it  only  by  the  columns.  In  the  Delos 
house,  the  columns  were  ten  feet  high  (probably  higher  than 
was  usual),  and  the  court  was  paved  with  a  beautiful  mosaic. 
Commonly,  however,  all  floors  in  private  houses,  until  some 
three  centuries  later,  were  made  of  concrete. 

230 


233] 


THE  GREEK  HOUSE 


231 


Under  part  of  the  hall  were  two  cellars  or  cisterns ;  and 
from  the  hall  there  opened  six  more  rooms.  The  largest  {H) 
was  the  dining  room  and  kitchen,  with  a  small  recess  for  the 
chimney  in  one  corner.  The  other  rooms  were  store  rooms, 
or  sleeping  rooms  for  male  slaves  and  unmarried  sons.  Any- 
occasional  overflow  of  guests  could  be  taken  care  of  by  couches 
in  the  hall.     This  whole  floor  wa.s  for  males  only. 


0 

0 

o 

o 

o 

o 

1 

o 

o 

''  ■-! 

o 

^  o 

o 

o 

D 


mMMM/M//////^^^^^^ 


Plan  of  a  Fifth-century  Dklos  Housk. 
After  Gardiner  aud  Jevous. 


Some  houses  (of  the  very  rich)  had  only  one  story.  In  that 
case  there  was  at  the  rear  a  second  half  for  the  women,  con- 
nected with  the  men's  half  by  a  door  in  the  partition  wall. 
This  rear  half  of  the  house,  in  such  cases,  had  its  own  central 
hall  and  open  court,  and  an  arrangement  of  rooms  similar  to 
that  in  the  front  half.  But  more  commonly,  as  in  the  Delos 
house,  there  was  an  upper  story  for  the  women,  reached  by 
a  steep  stairway  in  the  lower  hall,  and  projecting,  perhaps, 
l)art  way  over  the  street.  Near  the  street  door,  on  the  outside, 
there  was  a  niche  in  the  wall  for  the  usual  statue  of  Hermes ; 
and  a  small  niche  in  room  F  was  used  probably  as  a  shrine  for 
some  other  deity. 

The  doorways  of  the  interior  were  usually  hung  with  cur- 


232  THE  AGE  OF  PERICLES  [§234 

tains;  but  storo  rooms  liad  doors  witli  bronze  locks.  Bronze 
keys  riro  soniotinios  found  in  the  ruins,  and  tliey  are  pictured 
in  nse  in  vase  |)aintin^'s.  The  door  between  the  men's  and 
women's  apartments  was  kept  locked:  only  the  master  of 
the  house,  his  wile,  and  perhaps  a  trusted  slave,  had  keys  to 
it.  The  Dolos  house  had  only  one  outside  door;  but  often 
there  was  a  rear  door  into  a  small,  walled  garden.-  City 
houses  were  crowded  close  together,  with  small  chance  for 
windows  on  the  sides.  Sometimes  narrow  slits  in  the  wall 
opened  on  the  street.  Otherwise,  except  for  the  one  door,  the 
street  front  was  a  blank  wall.  If  there  were  windows  on  the 
street  at  all,  they  were  filled  with  a  close  wooden  lattice. 
The  Greeks  did  not  have  glass  panes  for  windows.  The 
houses  were  dark;  and  most  of  the  dim  light  came  from 
openings  on  the  central  court,  through  the  hall. 

In  cold  damp  weather  (of  which,  happily,  there  was  not  much), 
the  house  was  exceedingly  uncomfortable.  The  kitchen  had 
a  real  chimney,  with  cooking  arrangements  like  those  in  an- 
cient Cretan  houses  (§  96).  But  for  other  rooms  the  only 
artificial  heat  came  from  small  fires  of  wood  or  charcoal  in 
braziers,  —  such  as  are  still  carried  from  room  to  room,  on  occa- 
sion, in  Greece  or  Italy  or  Spain.  The  choking  fumes  which 
filled  the  room  were  not  much  more  desirable  than  the  cold 
which  they  did  little  to  drive  away.  Sometimes  a  large  open 
fire  in  the  court  gave  warmth  to  the  hall.  At  night,  earthen- 
ware lamps,  on  shelves  or  brackets,  furnished  light.  Tliere 
were  no  bathrooms,  and  no  sanitary  conveniences. 

Poor  people  lived  in  houses  of  one  or  two  rooms.  A  middle 
class  had  houses  nearly  as  large  as  the  one  described  above ; 
but  they  rented  the  upper  story  to  lodgers.  Professional  lodg- 
ing houses  had  begun  to  appear,  with  several  stories  of  small 
rooms,  for  unmarried  poor  men  and  for  slaves  who  could  not 
find  room  in  the  master's  house. 

234.  The  residence  streets  were  narrow  and  irregular,  — 
hardly  more  than  crooked,  dark  alleys.  They  had  no  pave- 
ment, and  they  were    littered  with   all   the  filth,  and  refuse 


§235]  GREEK  FAMILY   LIFE  233 

from  the  houses.  Slops,  from  upper  windows,  sometimes 
doused  unwary  passers-by.  Splendid  as  were  the  public  por- 
tions of  Athens,  the  residence  quarters  were  much  like  a 
squalid  Oriental  city  of  to-day.  In  the  time  of  Pericles, 
wealthy  men  were  just  beginning  to  build  more  comfortably 
on  the  hills  near  the  city;  but  war  kept  this  practice  from 
becoming  common  till  a  much  later  time. 


(JKF.EK  GiKLS  AT  Play.  —  From  a  vase  paiutiug. 

235.  The  Family.  —  In  the  Oriental  lands  which  we  have 
studied,  a  man  was  at  liberty  to  have  as  many  wives  in  his 
household  as  he  chose  to  support.  Poor  men  usually  were 
content  with  one ;  but,  among  the  rich,  polygamy  was  the  rule. 
A  Greek  had  only  one  wife.  Imperfect  as  Greek  family  life 
was,  the  adoption  of  "monogamy"  was  a  great  step  forward. 

The  Homeric  poems  give  many  pictures  of  lovely  family 
life ;  and  the  Homeric  women  meet  male  guests  and  strangers 
with  a  natural  dignity  and  ease.  In  historic  Greece,  as  we 
have  noted  (§  230),  this  freedom  for  women  had  been  lost  — 
except,  in  some  degree,  at  Sparta.  Marriage  was  arranged  by 
parents.  The  young  people  as  a  rule  had  never  seen  each 
other.     Girls  were  married  very  young  —  by  fifteen  or  earlier 


234  THE   ADR   OF   PERICLES  [§  23ri 

—  and  had  no  training  of  any  valuable  sort.  Among  the 
wealthy  classes,  they  spent  the  rest  of  their  days  indoors  — 
except  on  some  rare  festival  occasions.  The  model  wife 
learned  to  oversee  the  household ;  V)ut  in  most  homes  this  was 
left  to  trained  slaves,  and  the  wife  dawdled  away  the  day  list- 
lessly at  her  toilet  or  in  vacant  idleness,  much  as  in  an  Eastern 
harem  to-day,  waiting  for  a  visit  from  her  master.  The  vase 
pictures  show  her  commonly  with  a  mirror.  Unwholesome 
living  led  to  excessive  use  of  red  and  white  paint,  and  other 
cosmetics,  to  imitate  the  complexion  of  early  youth.' 

Law  and  public  opinion  allowed  the  father  to  "  expose "  a 
new-born  child  to  die.  This  was  done  sometimes  in  Athens  with 
girl  babies.  Indeed  the  practice  was  common  among  the  poor. 
Boys  were  valued  more.  They  would  offer  sacrifices,  in  time,  at 
the  father's  tomb,  and  theif  could  Jight  for  the  city.  Till  the  age 
of  seven,  boys  and  girls  lived  together  in  the  women's  apart- 
ments. Then  the  boy  began  his  school  life  (§  240).  The  girl 
continued  her  childhood  until  marriage.  Much  of  her  time  was 
spent  at  music  and  in  games.  One  very  common  game  was 
like  oiir  "  Jackstones,"  except  that  it  was  played  with  little 
bones.  Not  till  the  evening  before  her  marriage  did  the  girl 
put  away  her  doll,  —  offering  it  then  solemnly  on  the  shrine 
of  the  goddess  Artemis. 

236.  Greek  dress  is  well  known,  as  to  its  general  effect,  from 
pictures  and  scidpture.  "Women  of  the  better  classes  wore 
flowing  garments,  fastened  at  the  shoulders  with  clasp-pins,  and 
gathered  in  graceful  loose  folds  at  the  waist.  The  robe  was 
so  draped  as  to  leave  the  arms,  and  sometimes  one  shoulder, 
bare.  Outside  the  house,  the  woman  wore  also  a  kind  of  long 
mantle,  which  was  often  drawn  up  over  the  head. 

The  chief  article  of  men's  dress  was  a  shirt  of  linen  or  wool, 
which  fell  about  to  the  knees.  For  active  movements,  this  was 
often  clasped  with  a  girdle  about  the  waist,  and  shortened  by 
being  drawn  up  so  as  to  fall  in  folds  over  the  girdle.     Over 

1  Davis,  Beadings,  Vol.  I,  No.  99,  pictures  an  ideal  Greek  household. 


§237] 


GREEK  DRESS 


235 


this  was  draped  a  long  mantle,  falling  in  folds  to  the  feet. 
This  is  well  shown  in  the  statne  of  Sophocles,  on  page  214. 
Sometimes,  this  mantle  was  carried  on  the  arm.  The  soles 
of  the  feet  were  commonly  protected  by  sandals ;  but  there 
was  also  a  great  variety  of  other  foot  gear.  Socrates'  habit 
of  going  barefooted  was  the  rule  at  Sparta  for  men  under 
middle  age;  and  some  Spartan  kings  made  it  their  practice 
all  their  lives. 

Even  these  statements  do  not  make  emphatic  enough  the  very  simple 
nature  of  men's  dress.  The  inner  garment  was  merely  a  piece  of  cloth 
in  two  oblong  parts  (sometimes  partly  sewn  together),  fastened  by  pins, 
so  as  to  hold  it  on.  The  outer  garment  was  one  oblong  piece  of  cloth, 
larger  and  not  fastened  at  all. 


A  Vask  Paintin(;,  showiiiji  tlic  Trojan  |)iiiice  enticing  away  Helen.     The 
paintiuf?  is  of  the  tifth  century,  and  sliows  fashions  in  dre.ss  for  that  time. 

237.  Occupations.  —  Good  "  .society  "  looked  down  upon  all 
forms  of  money-making  by  personal  exertion.  A  physician 
who  took  pay  for  his  services  they  despised  almost  as  much 
as  they  did  a  carpenter  or  shoemaker.  This  attitude  is  natural 
to  a  slaveholding  society.  Careless  thinkers  sometimes  admire 
it.  But  it  contains  less  promise  for  mankind  than  does  even 
our  modern  worship  of  the  dollar,  bad  as  that  sometimes  is. 
The  Greek  wanted  money  enough  to  supply  all  the  comforts 


236 


THE  AGE   OF  PERICLES 


[§  237 


that  he  knewa])ont;  but   he  wanted  it  to  come  without  his 
earninf^  it.     IJe  was  very  glad  to  have  slaves  earn  it  for  him. 

Most  of  the  hand  labor  was  busied  in  1,illiii,ij  the  ftoil.  The 
farmer  manured  his  land  skillfully  ;  but  otlierwise  he  made 
no  advance  over  the  Egyptian  farmer  —  who  had  not  been  com- 
pelled to  enrich  his  land.  Some  districts,  like  Corinth  and 
Attica,  could  not  furnish  food  enough  for  their  populations 
from  their  own  soil.     Athens  imported  grain  from  other  parts 


Greek  Women,  in  various  activities.  —  From  a  vase  paiiitiui; 


of  Hellas  and  from  Thrace  and  Egypt.  This  grain  was  paid 
for,  in  the  long  run,  by  the  export  of  manufactures.  In  the 
age  of  Pericles,  large  factories  had  appeared.  (See  Davis' 
Readings,  Vol.  I,  No.  76,  for  a  list  of  twenty-five  handicrafts 
connected  with  the  beautifying  of  the  Acropolis.)  In  these 
factories,  the  place  taken  now  by  machinery  was  taken  then,  in 
large  part,  by  slaves.  The  owner  of  a  factory  did  not  com- 
monly own  all  the  slaves  employed  in  it.  Any  master  of  a 
slave  skilled  in  that  particular  trade  might  "  rent "  him  out  to 
the  factory  by  the  month  or  year. 

In  Attica,  then,  the  villages  outside  Athens  were  mainly 
occupied  by  farmers  and  farm  laborers.  Commerce  (as  well 
as  much  manufacturing)  was  centered  in  the  Piraeus,  and  was 
managed  directly,  for  the  most  part,  by  the  non-citizen  class. 

In  Athens,  the  poorer  classes  worked  at  their  trades  or  in 
their  shops  from  sunrise  to  sunset  —  with  a  holiday  about  one 


238] 


CLASSES  AND   INDUSTRIES 


237 


day  iu  three.  Their  pay  was  small,  because  of  the  competi- 
tion of  slave  labor;  but  they  needed  little  pay  to  give  them 
most  of  the  comforts  of  the  rich  —  except  constant  leisure. 
And  we  must  understand  that  the  Greek  artisan  —  sometimes 
even  the  slave  —  took  a  noble  pride  in  Ms  icork.  The  stone 
masons  who  chiseled  out  the  fluted  columns  of  the  Parthenon 
felt  themselves  fellow  workmen  with  Phidias  who  carved  the 
pediments.  In  general,  the  Greek  workman  seems  to  have 
worked  deliberately  and  to 
have  found  a  delight  in  his 
work  which  was  known  also 
to  the  artisan  of  the  Middle 
Ages  in  Europe,  but  which 
has  been  largely  driven  out 
of  modern  life  by  our  greater 
subdivision  of  labor  and  by 
our  greater  pressure  for  haste. 

An  Athenian  citizen  of  the 
wealthy  class  usually  owned 
lands  outside  the  city,  worked 
by  slaves  and  managed  by 
some  trusted  steward.  Prob- 
ably he  also  had  capital  in- 
vested in  trading  vessels, 
though  he  was  not  likely  to  have  any  part  in  managing  them. 
Some  revenue  he  drew  from  money  at  interest  with  the  bankers ; 
and  he  drew  large  sums,  too,  from  the  "rent"  of  slaves  to  the 
factories. 

238.  A  Day  of  the  Leisure  Class.  —  Like  the  poorer  citizens, 
the  rich  man  rose  with  the  sun.  A  slave  poured  water  over 
his  face  and  hands,  or  perhaps  over  his  naked  body,  from  a 
basin.  (Poor  men  like  Socrates  bathed  at  the  public  foun- 
tains.) He  then  broke  his  fast  on  a  cup  of  wine  and  a  dry 
crust  of  bread.  Afterward,  perhaps  he  rode  into  the  country, 
to  visit  one  of  his  farms  there,  or  for  a  day's  hunting. 

If;  instead,  he  remained  within  the  city,  he  left  his  house 


A  Barkkk  in  Tkuua-Cotta. 
From  Bliininer. 


238 


THE    A(1K    OK    I'KKIC.'LKS 


[§238 


at  once,  stopping,  probably,  at  a  barber's,  to  have  his  beard 
and  finger  nails  attended  to,  as  well  as  to  gather  the  latest 
news  from  the  barber's  talk.  In  any  ease,  the  later  half  of 
the  morning,  if  not  the  first  part,  would  find  him  strolling 
through  the  shaded  arcades  about  the  market  place,  among 
throngs  of  his  fellows,  greeting  acquaintances  and  stopping  for 
(•(iiivcisation  with  friends       wit1i  wliom.  sometimes,  he  sat  on 

the  benches  that 
were  interspersed 
among  the  colon- 
nades. At  sueli 
times,  he  was  al- 
ways followed  by 
one  or  two  hand- 
some slave  boys, 
to  run  errands. 
At  midday,  he  re- 
turned home  for 
a  light  lunch.  In 
the  afternoon,  he 
sometimes  slept. 
Or,  if  a  student, 
he  took  to  his  rolls 
of  papyrus.  Or, 
if  a  statesman, 
perhaps  he  prepared  his  speech  for  the  next  meeting  of  the 
Assembly.  Sometimes,  he  visited  the  public  gaming  houses  or 
the  clubs.  During  the  afternoon, — usually  toward  evening, 
—  he  bathed  at  a  public  bathing  house,  hot,  cold,  or  vapor 
bath,  as  his  taste  decided ;  and  here  again  he  held  conversation 
with  friends,  while  resting,  or  while  the  slave  attendants  rubbed 
him  with  oil  and  ointment.  The  bath  was  usually  preceded  by 
an  hour  or  more  of  exercise  in  a  gymnasium. 

Toward  sunset,  he  oi^e  more  visited  his  home,  unless  he  was 
to  dine  out.  If  the  evening  meal  was  to  be,  for  a  rare  occasion, 
at  home  and  without  guests,  he  ate  with  his  family,  —  his  wife 


Thk  Wkestleks. 


§  239)  A  GENTLEMAN'S   DAY  239 

sitting  at  the  foot  of  the  couch  where  he  reclined  ;  and  soon 
afterward  he  went  to  bed.  More  commonly,  he  entertained 
guests  —  whom  he  had  invited  to  dinner  as  lie  met  them  at 
the  market  place  in  the  morning  —  or  he  was  himself  a  guest 
elsewhere. 

The  evening  meal  deserves  a  section  to  itself  (§  239).  First 
let  us  note  that  such  days  as  we  have  just  described  were  not 
allowed  to  become  monotonous  at  Athens,  For  several  years 
of  his  life,  the  citizen  was  certain  to  be  busied  most  of  the  time 
in  the  service  of  the  state  (§  212).  At  other  times,  the  meet- 
ings of  the  Assembly  and  the  religious  festivals  and  the  theater 
took  at  least  one  day  out  of  every  three. 

239.  The  evening  banquet  played  a  large  part  in  Greek  life. 
As  guests  arrived,  they  took  their  places  in  pairs,  on  couclies, 
which  were  arranged  around  the  room,  each  man  reclining  on 
his  left  arm.  Slaves  removed  the  sandals  or  shoes,  wash- 
ing the  dust  from  the  feet,  and  passed  bowls  of  water  for 
the  hands.  They  then  brought  in  low  three-legged  tables,  one 
before  each  couch,  on  which  they  afterward  placed  course  after 
course  of  food. 

The  Greeks  of  this  period  were  not  luxurious  about  eating. 
The  meals  were  rather  simple.  Food  was  cut  into  small 
pieces  in  the  kitchen.  No  forks  or  knives  were  used  at 
table.  Men  ate  with  a  spoon,  or,  more  commonly,  with  the 
fingers ;  and  at  the  close,  slaves  once  more  passed  bowls  for 
washing  the  hands.  When  the  eating  was  over,  the  real  busi- 
ness of  the  evening  began  —  with  the  wine.  This  was  mixed 
with  water;  and  drunkenness  was  not  common ;  but  the  drinking 
lasted  late,  with  serious  or  playful  talk,  and  singing  and  story- 
telling, and  with  forfeits  for  those  who  did  not  perform  well  any 
part  assigned  them  by  the  "  master  of  the  feast "  (one  of  their 
number  chosen  by  the  others  when  the  wine  appeared).  Often 
the  host  had  musicians  come  in,  with  jugglers  and  dancing 
girls.  Respectable  women  never  appeared  on  these  occasions. 
Only  on  marriage  festivals,  or  some  special  family  celebration, 
did  the  women  of  a  family  meet  male  guests  at  all. 


240 


THE   AGE   OF    PKKFCLP^S 


(§240 


240.  Education.  —  Education  at  Athen.s,  as  in  nearly  all 
Greece,  wa.s  in  marked  contrast  with  Spartan  education  (§  l.'iOj. 
It  aimed  to  train  harmoniously  the  intellect,  the  sense  of  beatity, 
the  moral  nature,  and  the  hody.     At  tlie  aj^e  of  seven  the  boy 


School  Scenes.  —  A  Bowl  Painting. 
Iiistruments  of  instruction,  mostly  musical,  hang  on  the  walls.     In  the  first 
half,  one  instructor  is  correcting  the  exercise  of  a  boy  who  stands  before 
him.    Another  is  showing  how  to  use  the  flute.     The  seated  figures,  with 
staffs,  ai'e  "pedagogues." 

entered  school,  but  he  was  constantly  under  the  eye  not  only 
of  the  teacher,  but  of  a  trusted  servant  of  his  own  famil}-, 
called  a  pedagogue.^     The  chief  subjects  for  study  were  Homer 

1  The  word  meant  "  boy-leader."    Its  use  for  a  "  teacher  "  is  later. 


§  240]  EDUCATION  241 

and  music.  Homer,  it  has  well  been  said,  was  to  the  Greek 
at  once  Bible,  Shakespeare,  and  Robinson  Crusoe.  The  boy 
learned  to  write  on  papyrus  with  ink.  But  papyrus  was 
costly,  and  the  elementary  exercises  were  carried  on  with  a 
sharp  instrument  on  tablets  coated  with  wax.  No  great  pro- 
ficiency was  expected  from  the  average  rich  youth  in  writing  — 
since  lie  would  have  slaves  do  most  of  it  for  liim  in  after  life. 
The  schoolmaster  indulged  in  cruel  floggings  on  slight  occasion 
(Davis'  Headings,  Vol.  I,  No.  94). 

When  the  youth  left  school,  he  entered  upon  a  wider  train- 
ing, in  the  political  debates  of  the  Assembly,  in  the  lecture  halls 
of  the  Sophists,  in  the  many  festivals  and  religious  processions, 
in  the  plays  of  the  great  dramatists  at  the  theaters,  and  in  the 
constant  enjoyment  of  the  noblest  and  purest  works  of  art. 

Physical  training  began  with  the  child  and  continued 
through  old  age.  No  Greek  youth  would  pass  a  day  without 
devoting  some  hours  to  developing  his  body  and  to  overcoming 
any  physical  defect  or  awkwardness  that  he  might  have.  All 
.classes  of  citizens,  except  those  bound  by  necessity  to  the  work- 
shop, met  for  exercise.  The  result  was  a  perfection  of  physical 
power  and  beauty  never  attained  so  universally  by  any  other 
people. 

Imaginative  Exercisks.  — This  period  affords  excellent  material  for 
exercises  based  upon  the  training  of  the  historic  imagination.  Let  the 
student  absorb  all  the  information  he  can  find  upon  some  historical  topic, 
until  he  is  filled  with  its  spirit,  and  then  reproduce  it  from  the  inside,  with 
the  dramatic  spirit  —  as  though  he  lived  in  that  time  —  not  in  the  descrip- 
tive method  of  another  age.  The  following  topics  are  suggested  (the  list 
can  be  indefinitely  extended,  and  such  exercises  may  be  arranged  for  any 
period)  :  — 

1.  A  captive  Persian's  letter  to  a  friend  after  Plataea. 

2.  A  dialogue  between  Socrates  and  Xanthippe. 

3.  An  address  by  a  Messenian  to  Ids  fellows  in  their  revolt  against 
Sparta. 

4.  Extracts  from  a  diary  of  Pericles. 

5.  A  day  at  the  Olympic  games  (choose  some  particular  date). 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE   PELOPONNESIAN    WAR 
(431-404  BC.) 

241.  Causes.  — Athens  and  Sparta  were  at  the  opposite  poles 
of  Greek  civilization.  Athens  stood  for  progress.  Sparta  was 
the  champion  of  old  ways.  A  like  contrast  ran  through  the 
two  leagues  of  which  these  cities  were  the  heads.  The  cities 
of  the  Athenian  empire  were  Ionian  in  blood,  democratic  in 
politics,  commercial  in  interests.  Most  of  the  cities  of  the 
Peloponnesian  league  were  Dorian  in  blood  and  aristocratic  in 
politics,  and  their  citizens  were  landowners.  This  difference 
between  the  Athenian  and  Spartan  states  gave  rise  to  mutual 
distrust.  It  was  easy  for  any  misiuulerstanding  to  ripen  into 
war. 

Still,  a  none  of  the  cities  of  the  Peloponnesian  league  had  liad 
any  interests  on  the  sea,  the  two  powers  might  each  have  gone 
its  own  way  without  crossing  the  other's  path.  But  Corinth 
and  Megara  (members  of  Sparta's  league)  were  trading  cities, 
like  Athens ;  and,  after  the  growth  of  the  Athenian  empire, 
they  felt  the  basis  of  their  prosperity  slipping  from  under 
them.  They  had  lost  the  trade  of  the  Aegean,  and  Athens  had 
gained  it.  And  now  Athens  was  reaching  out  also  for  the 
commerce  of  the  western  coasts  of  Greece.  Next  to  Sparta, 
Corinth  was  the  most  powerful  city  in  the  Peloponnesian 
league  ;  and  she  finally  persuaded  Sparta  to  take  up  arms 
against  Athens,  before  the  Thirty  Years'  Truce  (§  202)  had 
run  quite  half  its  length. 

242.  The  immediate  occasion  for  the  struggle  was  found  in 
some  aid  which  Athens  gave  Corcyra  against  an  attack  by 
Corinth  in  432  b.c. 

242 


§243]  RESOURCES  AND   PLANS  243 

(^orcyra  was  the  third  naval  power  in  Greece.  Coriiitli  was  second 
only  to  Athens.  Corinth  and  Corcyra  had  come  to  blows,  and  Corcyra 
asked  to  be  taken  into  the  Athenian  league.  Athens  finally  promised 
defensive  aid,  and  sent  ten  ships  with  instructions  to  take  no  part  in 
offensive  operations.  A  great  armament  of  150  Corinthian  vessels 
appeared  off  the  southern  coast  of  Corcyra.  Corcyra  could  muster 
only  110  ships.  In  the  battle  that  followed,  the  Corinthians  were  at  lirst 
completely  victorious.  They  sank  or  captured  many  ships,  and  seemtnl 
about  to  destroy  the  whole  Corcyran  fleet.  Then  the  little  Athenian 
squadron  came  to  the  rescue,  and  by  their  superior  skill  quickly 
restored  the  fortune  of  the  day. 

But  in  the  negotiations  that  followed,  between  Athens  and 
the  Peloponnesian  league,  this  matter  of  Corcyra  fell  out  of 
sight,  and  the  quarrel  was  joined  on  broader  issues.^  Sparta 
finally  sent  a  haughty  ultimatum,  posing,  herself,  as  the 
champion  of  a  free  Hellas  against  tyrant  Athens,  which  had  en- 
slaved the  Aegean  cities.  "  Let  Athens  set  those  cities  free, 
and  she  might  still  have  peace  with  Sparta."  A  timid  party, 
of  Athenian  aristocrats,  wished  peace  even  on  these  terms. 
But  the  Assembly  adopted  a  dignified  resolution  moved  by 
Pericles :  — 

"Let  us  send  the  ambassadors  away,''  said  he,  "with  this  answer: 
That  we  will  grant  independence  to  tiie  cities  .  .  .  as  soon  a.s  the  Spartans 
allow  their  subject  states  [Messenia  and  tlie  subject  towns  of  Laconia]  to 
be  governed  as  they  choose,  and  not  by  the  will  and  intere.st  of  Sparta. 
Also,  that  we  are  willing  to  <>fpr  arbitration,  according  to  the  treaty  [the 
treaty  of  the  Thirty  Years'  Truce].  And  that  we  do  not  want  to  begin 
the  war,  but  shall  know  how  to  defend  ovu:selves  if  we  are  attacked." 

As  Pericles  frankly  warned  the  Assembly,  this  reply  meant 
conflict.     And  so  in  431  began  the  "Peloponnesian  War.'' 

243.  Resources  and  Plans.  —  The  Peloponnesian  league  could 
muster  a  hundred  thousand  hoplites,  against  whom  in  that 
day  no  army  in  the  world  could  stand;  but  it  could  not  keep 
many  men  in  the  field  longer  than  a  few  weeks.     Sparta  could 

1  Special  report:  the  narrative  of  the  deliberations  at  Sparta  regarding  war 
or  peace  (note  especially  Thucydides'  account  of  the  Corintliian  spfecli  re- 
garding Sparta  and  Athens  in  Davis'  Readings,  Vol.  I,  No.  77). 


244  THE   PELOPONNESIAN   WAR  (§244 

not  capture  Athens,  therefore,  and  must  depend  upon  ravaging 
Attic  territory  and  inducing  Athenian  allies  to  revolt. 

Athens  had  only  some  twenty-six  thousand  hoplites  at  her 
command,  and  half  of  these  were  needed  for  distant  garrison 
duty.  But  she  had  a  navy  even  more  unmatched  on  the  sea  than 
the  Peloponnesian  army  was  on  land.  Her  walls  were  impreg- 
nable. The  islands  of  Euboea  and  Salamis,  and  the  open  spaces 
within  the  Long  Walls,  she  thought,  could  receive  her  country 
people  with  their  flocks  and  herds.  The  corn  trade  of  south 
Eussia  was  securely  in  her  hands.  The  grain  ships  could  enter 
the  Piraeus  as  usual,  however  the  Spartans  might  hold  the 
open  country  of  Attica.  Athens  could  easily  afford  to  support 
her  population  for  a  time  from  her  annual  revenues,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  immense  surplus  of  6000  talents  ($6,000,000)  in 
the  treasury. 

When  war  began,  the  Spartans  marched  each  year  into 
Attica  with,  overwhelming  force,  and  remained  there  for  some 
weeks,  laying  waste  the  crops,  burning  the  villages,  and  cut- 
ting down  the  olive  groves,  up  to  the  very  Avails  of  Athens. 
At  first,  with  frenzied  rage,  the  Athenians  clamored  to  march 
out  against  the  invader;  but  Pericles  strained  his  great  au- 
thority to  prevent  such  a  disaster,  and  finally  he  convinced 
the  people  that  they  must  bear  this  insult  and  injury  with 
patience.  Meantime,  an  Athenian  fleet  was  always  sent  to 
ravage  the  coasts  and  harbors  of  Peloponnesus  and  to  conquer 
various  exposed  allies  of  Sparta.  Each  party  could  inflict 
considerable  damage,  but  neither  could  get  at  the  other  to  strike  a 
vital  bloiv.     The  war  promised  to  be  a  matter  of  endurance. 

Here  Athens  seemed  to  have  an  advantage,  since  she  had  the 
stronger  motive  for  holding  out.  She  was  fighting  to  preserve 
her  empire,  and  could  not  give  up  without  ruin.  Sparta  could 
cease  fighting  without  loss  to  herself ;  and  Pericles  hoped  to 
tire  her  out. 

244.  The  Plague  in  Athens.  —  The  plan  of  Pericles  might 
have  been  successful,  had  the  Spartans  not  been  encouraged 
by  a  tragic  disaster  which  fell  upon  Athens  and  which  no  one 


§244]  THE   PLAGUE   IN   ATHENS  245 

in  that  day  could  have  foreseen.  A  terrible  plague  had  been 
ravaging  western  Asia,  and  in  the  second  year  of  the  war  it 
reached  the  Aegean.  In  most  parts  of  Hellas  it  did  no  great 
harm  ;  but  in  Athens  it  was  peculiarly  deadly.  The  people  of 
all  Attica,  crowded  into  the  one  city,  were  living  under  \inusual 
and  unwholesome  conditions  ;  and  the  pestilence  returned  each 
summer  for  several  years.  It  slew  more  than  a  fourth  of  the 
population,  and  paralyzed  industry  and  all  ordinary  activ- 
ities. Worse  still,  it  shattered,  for  years,  the  proud  and  joy- 
ous self-trust  which  had  come  to  the  Athenian  people  after 
Marathon. 

Thucydides,  an  eye  wdtness,  has  described  the  ravages  of  the 
plague  and  exj)lained  their  cause.  "  When  the  country  people 
of  Attica  arrived  in  Athens,"  he  says,  "  a  few  had  homes  of  their 
own,  or  found  friends  to  take  them  in.  But  far  the  greater 
number  had  to  find  a  place  to  live  on  some  vacant  spot  or  in 
the  temples  of  the  gods  and  chapels  of  the  heroes.  .  .  .  ^lany 
also  camped  down  in  the  towers  of  the  walls  or  wherever  else 
they  could;  for  the  city  proved  too  small  to  hold  them." 
Thucydides  could  see  the  unhappy  results  of  these  conditions, 
after  the  plague  had  fallen  on  the  city  ;  and  he  adds,  with 
grim  irony,  that  "  while  these  country  folk  were  dividing  the 
spaces  between  the  Long  Walls  and  settling  there,"  the  govern- 
ment (Generals  and  Council)  were  "  paying  great  attention  to 
mustering  a  fleet  for  ravaging  the  Peloponnesian  coasts." 

Then,  in  dealing  with  the  horrible  story  of  the  plague, 
Thucydides  shows  how  these  conditions  prepared  for  it.  "  Tlie 
neiv  arrivals  from  the  country  were  the  greatest  sufferers,  — 
lodged  during  this  hot  season  in  stifling  huts,  where  death 
raged  without  check.  The  bodies  of  dying  men  lay  one  upon 
another,  and  half-dead  creatures  reeled  about  the  streets,  poi- 
soning all  the  fountains  and  wells  with  their  bodies,  in  their 
longing  for  water.  The  sacred  places  in  which  they  had 
camped  were  full  of  corpses  [a  terrible  sacrilege,  to  Greeks] ; 
for  men,  not  knowing  icliat  ivas  to  become  of  them,  became 
wholly  careless  of  everything." 


246  THK    PRLOPOXNESIAX   WAR  [§24.") 

246.  Twenty-seven  Years  of  War. — Still,  the  Athenians  did 
recover  tlu'ir  l)U()y ant,  hope;  and  the  war  dragged  along  with 
varying  snccess  for  tw(Uity-seven  years,  with  one  short  and 
ill-kept  truce,  —  a  whole  generation  growing  up  from  the 
cradle  to  manhood  in  incessant  war.  A  stoiy  of  the  long  strug- 
gle in  detail  would  take  a  volume.  Tlie  content  zvas  not  of  such 
IdstiiKj  importance  as  the  precediny  stri((j(jle  heticeen  the  Greek  and 
J'rrsiiiii  cirilizafio)is;  and  only  a  few  incidents  require  mention. 

246.  Athenian  Naval  Supremacy.  —  On  the  sea  the  superiority 
of  Athens  consisted  not  merely  in  the  size  of  her  navy,  ?jiit  even 
more  in  its  skill.  The  other  Greeks  still  fought,  as  at  the  time 
of  Salamis,  by  dashing  their  ships  against  each  other,  beak 
against  beak,  and  then,  if  neither  was  sunk,  by  grappling  the 
vessels  together,  and  fighting  as  if  on  land.  The  Athenians, 
however,  had  now  learned  to  maneuver  their  ships,  rowing 
swiftly  about  the  enemy  with  many  feints,  and  seizing  the 
opportunity  to  sink  a  ship  by  a  sudden  blow  at  an  exposed 
point.  Their  improved  tactics  revolutionized  naval  warfare ; 
and  for  years  small  fleets  of  Athenian  ships  proved  equal  to 
three  times  their  number  of  the  enemy.^  Gradually,  however, 
the  Peloponnesians  learned  something  of  the  Athenian  tactics, 
and  this  difference  became  less  marked. 

247.  New  Leaders.  —  The  deadliest  blow  of  the  plague  was 
the  striking  down  of  Pericles,  who  died  of  the  disease,  in 
the  third  year  of  the  war.  iSfever  had  the  Athenians  so 
needed  his  controlling  will  and  calm  judgment.  He  was  fol- 
lowed by  a  new  class  of  leaders,  —  men  of  the  people,  like 
Cleon  the  tanner,  and  Hyperhohis  the  lampmaker,  —  men  of 
strong  will  and  much  force,  but  rude,  untrained,  unscrupulous, 
and  ready  to  surrender  their  own  convictions,  if  necessary,  to 
win  the  favor  of  the  crowd.  Such  men  were  to  lead  Athens 
into  many  blunders  and  crimes.  Over  against  them  stood 
only  a  group  of  incapable  aristocrats,  led  by  Nicias,  a  good  but 
stupid  man,  and  Alcibiades,  a  brilliant,  unprincipled  adventurer. 

1  Special  report  to  illustrate  these  points :  the  story  of  Phormio's  victories 
in  the  Corinthiau  Gulf  in  431. 


§249]  ATHENIAN   DISASTER  247 

Athens  was  peculiarly  unfortunate  in  her  statesmen  at 
this  period.  She  produced  no  Theniistocles,  or  Aristides,  or 
Cimon,  or  Pericles ;  and  Phormio  and  Demosthenes,  her  great 
admirals,  were  usually  absent  from  the  city.  Sparta,  on  the 
other  hand,  produced  two  greater  generals  than  ever  before  in 
her  history;  Brasidas,  whose  brilliant  campaigns  overthrew 
Athenian  supremacy  on  the  coast  of  Thrace  ;  and  Lj/sander, 
who  was  finally  to  bring  the  war  to  a  close. 

248.  Athenian  Disaster  in  Sicily.  —  The  turning-point  in  the 
war  was  an  unwise  and  misconducted  Athenian  expedition 
against  Syracuse.^  Two  hundred  perfectly  equipped  ships  and 
over  forty  thousand  men  —  among  them  eleven  thousand  of 
the  flower  of  the  Athenian  hoplites  —  were  pitifully  sacrificed 
by  the  superstition  and  miserable  generalship  of  their  leader, 
Nicias  (413  b.c). 

Even  after  this  crushing  disaster  Athens  refused  peace  that 
should  take  away  her  empire.  Every  nerve  Avas  sti-ained,  and 
the  last  resources  and  reserve  funds  exhausted,  to  build  and 
man  new  fleets.  The  war  lasted  nine  years  more,  and  part  of 
the  time  Athens  seemed  as  supreme  in  the  Aegean  as  ever. 
Two  things  are  notable  in  the  closing  chapters  of  the  struggle, 
—  the  attempt  to  overthrow  democracy  in  Athens,  and  Sparta's 
betrayal  of  the  Asiatic  Greeks  to  Persia  (§§  249,  250). 

249.  The  Rule  of  the  Four  Hundred.  —For  a  century,  the  oli- 
garchic party  had  hardly  raised  its  head  in  Athens ;  but  in  411, 
it  attempted  once  more  to  seize  the  government.  Wealthy  men 
of  moderate  opinions  were  wearied  by  the  heavy  taxation  of  the 
Avar.  The  democracy  had  blundered  sadly  and  had  shown  itself 
unfit  to  deal  with  foreign  relations,  where  secrecy  and  dispatch 
were  essential ;  and  its  new  leaders  Avere  particularly  offensive 
to  the  old  Athenian  families. 

Under  these  conditions,  the  officers  of  the  fleet  conspired 
Avith  secret  oligarchic  societies  at  home.  Leading  democrats 
were  assassinated ;  and  the  Assembly  was  terrorized  into  sur- 

1  Syracuse,  a  Dorian  city  ami  a  warm  friend  to  Sparta,  had  been  encroach- 
ing upon  Ionian  allies  of  Athens  in  Sicily. 


248  THE   PELOPONNESIAN   WAR  [§  250 

reiulorin<:f  its  powers  U>  a  council  of  Fou7'  Jlmidred  of  the  oli- 
garchs. But  this  body  proved  generally  incoihpetent,  except 
in  murder  and  plunder,  and  it  permitted  needless  disasters  in 
the  war.  After  a  few  months,  the  Athenian  fleet  at  8amos  de- 
])0sed  its  oliifarchic  offi(;ers  ;  and  the  democracy  at  home  expelled 
the  Four  Hundred  and  restored  the  old  government. 


Route  of  the  Long  Walls,  looking  southwest  to  the  harbor,  some  three 
and  one  half  miles  distant.     From  a  recent  photograph. 

250.  Sparta  betrays  the  Asiatic  Greeks.  —  In  412,  immediately 
after  the  destruction  of  the  Athenian  army  and  fleet  in  Sicily, 
Persian  satraps  appeared  again  upon  the  Aegean  coast.  Sparta 
at  once  honglit  the  aid  of  their  gold  by  promising  to  betray  the 
freedom  of  the  Asiatic  Greeks,  —  to  whom  the  Athenian  name 
had  been  a  shield  for  seventy  years.  Persian  funds  now  built 
fleet  after  fleet  for  Sparta,  and  slowly  Athens  was  exhausted, 
despite  some  brilliant  victories. 

251.  Fall  of  Athens.  —  In  405,  the  last  Athenian  fleet  was 
surprised  and  captured  at  Aegospotami  (Goat  Eivers).  Appar- 
ently the  officers  had  been  plotting  again  for  an  oligarchic  revolu- 
tion ;  and  the  sailors  had  been  discouraged  and  demoralized, 
even  if  they  were  not  actually  betrayed  by  their  commanders. 


§251]  FALL  OF  ATHENS  249 

Lysander,  the  Spartan  commander,  in  cold  blood  put  to  death 
the  four  thousand  Athenian  citizens  among  the  captives.^ 

This  slaughter  marks  the  end.  Athens  still  held  out  despair- 
ing but  stubborn,  until  starved  into  submission  by  a  terrible 
siege.  In  404,  the  proud  city  surrendered  to  the  mercy  of  its 
foes.  Corinth  and  Thebes  wished  to  raze  it  from  the  earth ; 
but  Sparta  had  no  mind  to  do  away  with  so  useful  a  check  upoji 
those  cities.  She  compelled  Athens  to  renounce  all  claims  to 
empire,  to  give  up  all  alliances,  to  surrender  all  her  ships  but 
twelve,  and  to  promise  to  "  follow  Sparta  "  in  peace  and  war. 
The  Long  Walls  and  the  defenses  of  the  Piraeus  were  demol- 
ished, to  the  music  of  Peloponnesian  flutes ;  and  Hellas  was 
declared  free  ! 

Events  were  at  once  to  show  this  promise  a  cruel  mockery. 
Tlie  one  potoer  that  could  have  grown  into  a  free  and  united 
Greece  had  been  ruined,  and  it  remained  to  see  to  what  foreign 
master  Greece  shotdd  fall. 


For  Further  Reading.  —  Specially  stiiiypsted :  Davis'  Beadingn, 
Vol.  I,  Nos.  81-8G  (16  pages),  gives  tlie  most  striking  episodes  of  the  war, 
as  they  were  told  by  the  Athenian  historians  of  the  day,  Thucydides 
and  Xenophon.  Plutarch's  Livei^  ("  Alcibiades,"  "Nlcias,"'  and  "Ly- 
sander") is  the  next  most  valuable  authority. 

The  following  modern  authorities  contirme  to  be  useful  (and  may  be 
consulted  for  special  reports  upon  the  period,  if  any  are  assigned)  :  Bury, 
chs.  X,  xi ;  the  closing  parts  of  Grant's  Age  of  Pericles  and  of  Abbott's 
Pericles ;  and  Cox's  Athenian  Empire.  Bury  gives  120  pages  to  the 
struggle,  — too  long  an  account  for  reading,  but  useful  for  special  topics. 

1  Special  reports:  (1)  Cleon's  leadership.  (2)  The  trial  of  the  Athenian 
generals  after  the  victory  of  Arginiisae.  (;$)  The  massacre  of  the  Mytilcneaii 
oligarchs  (story  of  tlie  decree  and  the  reprieve).  (4)  Massacre  of  the  Mclians 
by  Athens,  415  u.c.  (">)  Note  the  merciless  nature  of  the  struggle,  as  shown 
by  other  massacres  of  prisoners:  i.e.,  Thebans  by  I'lataeans,  431  b.c.  ;  Pla- 
taeaiis  by  Theljans,  4"27  B.C.;  thousands  of  Athenians  in  the  mines  of  Syracuse; 
tlie  four  thousand  Athenians  after  Aegosjiotami.  ((>)  Tlie  career  of  Alcibi- 
ades. (7)  The  Tliracian  campaigns.  (8)  The  Sicilian  exix'ditioii.  ('.»)  The 
Siege  of  I'lataea. 

Material  for  such  reports  will  be  easily  found  in  the  books  named  at  the 
end  of  this  chapter. 


CHAPTER  XVr 

FROM  THE  FALL  OF  ATHENS  TO  THE  FALL  OF  HELLAS 
(404-338  B.C.) 

252.  Decline  of  Hellas.  —  The  Athenian  empire  had  lasted  seventy 
glorious  years.  Nearly  an  equal  time  was  yet  to  elapse  before  Hellas 
fell  under  Macedonian  sway;  but  it  need  not  detain  us  long.  Persia 
had  already  begun  again  to  enslave  the  Greeks  of  Asia ;  Carthage  again 
did  the  like  in  Sicily ;  and  in  the  European  peninsula  the  period  was  one 
of  shame  or  of  profitless  wars.  It  falls  into  three  parts :  thirty -three 
years  of  Spartan  supremacy;  nine  years  of  Theban  supremacy;  and 
some  twenty  years  of  anarchy. 

SPARTAN   SUPREMACY,   404-371    b.c. 

253.  "  Decarchies."  —  After  Aegospotami,  Sparta  was  mis- 
tress of  (Ireece  more  completely  than  Athens  had  ever  been, 
but  for  only  half  as  long ;  and  most  of  that  time  was  given  to 
wars  to  maintain  her  authority.  She  had  promised  to  set 
Hellas  free ;  but  the  cities  of  the  old  Athenian  empire  found 
that  they  had  exchanged  a  mild,  wise  rule  for  a  coarse  and 
stupid  despotism.^  Their  old  tribute  teas  doubled;  their  self-gov- 
ernment mas  taken  aicay  ;  bloodshed  and  confusion  ran  riot  in 
their  streets. 

Everywhere  Sparta  overthrew  the  old  democracies,  and  set 
up  oligarchic  governments.  Usually  the  management  of  a 
city  was  given  to  a  board  of  ten  men,  called  a  decarchy  {"  rule 
of  ten  ").  These  oligarchies,  of  course,  were  dependent  upon 
Sparta.2     To  defend  them  against  any  democratic  rising,  there 

1  Cox,  Athenian  Empire,  229-231,  gives  an  admirable  contrast  between  the 
Athenian  and  the  Spartan  systems. 

2  Note  the  likeness  between  this  Spartan  inetliod  and  the  Persian  practice 
of  setting  up  tyrannies,  (lei)endeiit  upon  Persia,  in  the  Ionian  cities  (§  ICA). 

250 


§255]  SPARTAN   TYRANNY  OVER  GREECE  251 

was  placed  in  many  cities  a  Spartan  garrison,  witli  a  Spartan 
military  governor  called  a  hdrmost.  The  garrisons  plundered  at 
will ;  the  harmosts  grew  rich  from  extortion  and  bribes  ;  the 
decarchies  were  slavishly  subservient  to  their  masters,  while 
tliey  wreaked  upon  their  fellow-citizens  a  long  pent-up  aristo- 
cratic vengeance,  in  confiscation,  outrage,  expulsion,  assassina- 
tion, and  massacre. 

254.  Spartan  Decay.  —  In  Sparta  itself  luxury  and  corruption 
replaced  the  old  simplicity.  As  a  result,  the  number  of  citi- 
zens was  rapidly  growing  smaller.  Property  was  gathered 
into  the  hands  of  a  few,  while  many  Spartans  grew  too  poor  to 
support  themselves  at  the  public  mess  (§  130).  These  poorer 
men  ceased  to  be  looked  upon  as  citizens.  They  were  not  per- 
mitted to  vote  in  the  Assembly,  and  were  known  as  "  In- 
feriors." The  10,000  citizens,  of  the  Persian  War  period, 
shrank  to  2000. 

The  discontent  of  the  "  Inferiors "'  added  to  the  standing 
danger  from  the  Helots.  A  plot  was  formed  between  these 
classes  to  change  the  government ;  and  only  an  accident  pre- 
vented an  armed  revolution.'  Thus,  even  at  home,  the  Spartan 
rule  during  tliis  period  rested  on  a  volcano. 

255.  The  "Thirty  Tyrants"  at  Athens.  —  For  a  time  even 
Athens  renuiined  a  victim  to  S})artan  tyranny,  like  any  petty 
Ionian  city.  After  the  surrender,  in  404,  Lysander  appointed 
a  committee  of  thirty  from  the  oligarchic  clubs  of  Athens  ''to 
reestablish  the  constitution  of  the  fathers."  Meantime,  they 
were  to  hold  absolute  power.  This  committee  was  expected  to 
uiulo  the  reforms  of  Pericles  and  Clisthenes  and  even  of 
Solon,  and  to  restore  the  ancient  oligarchy.  As  a  matter  of 
fact  they  did  worse  than  that :  they  published  no  constitution 
at  all,  but  instead  they  filled  all  offices  with  their  own  followers 
and  plotted  to  make  their  rule  permanent. 

These  men  were  known  as  "  the  Tliirty  Tyrants."  They 
called  in  a  Spartan  harmost  and  garrison,  to  whom  tliey  gave 
the  fortress  of  the  Acrojiolis.     'I'liey  disarmed  tlie  citizens,  ex- 

1  Special  report  :  the  conspiracy  of  Cinailoii  at  Sparta. 


252  SPARTAN  SUPREMACY  [§256 

(ujpt  some  tlireo  tliousand  of  their  own  adherents.  Then  they 
Ix'f^an  a  blcjody  and  gmo.dy  rule.  Ri(!h  democrats  and  alien 
merchants  were  put  to  death  or  driven  into  exile,  in  order  that 
their  property  might  be  confiscated.'  The  victims  of  this  pro- 
scription were  counted  by  hundreds,  perhaps  by  thousands. 
Larger  numbers  fled,  and,  despite  the  orders  of  Sparta,  they 
were  sheltered  by  Thebes.  That  city  had  felt  aggrieved  that 
her  services  in  the  Peloponnesian  War  received  no  reward 
from  Sparta,  and  now  she  would  have  been  glad  to  see  Athens 
more  ])()wprful  again. 

256.  Athens  again  Free.  —  This  reign  of  terror  at  Athens 
lasted  over  a  year.  Then,  in  403,  one  of  the  democratic  exiles, 
Thrasyhulus,  with  a  band  of  companions  from  Thebes,  seized  the 
Piraeus.  The  aliens  of  the  harbor  rose  to  his  support.  The 
Spartan  garrison  and  the  forces  of  the  Thirty  were  defeated. 
A  quarrel  between  Lysander  and  the  Spartan  king  prevented 
serious  Spartan  interference,  and  the  old  Athenian  democracy 
recovered  the  government. 

The  aliens  and  sailors  of  the  Piraeus  had  fought  valiantly 
with  the  democrats  against  the  Thirty.  Thrasybulus  now 
urged  that  they  be  made  full  citizens.  That  just  measure  would 
have  made  up  partly  for  Athens'  terrible  losses  in  the  Pelopon- 
nesian War,  Unfortunately,  it  was  not  adopted ;  but  in  other 
respects,  the  restored  democracy  showed  itself  generous  as  well 
as  moderate.  A  few  of  the  most  guilty  of  the  Thirty  were 
punished,  but  for  all  others  a  general  amnesty  was  declared. 

The  good  faith  and  moderation  of  the  democracy  contrasted 
so  favorably  with  the  cut-throat  rule  of  the  two  recent  experi- 
ments at  oligarchy,  that  Athens  was  undisturbed  in  future  by 
revolution.  Other  parts  of  Greece,  however,  were  less  fortu- 
nate, and  democracy  never  again  became  so  generally  established 
in  Hellenic  cities  as  it  had  been  in  the  age  of  Pericles. 

257.  "  March  of  the  Ten  Thousand."  —  Meantime,  important 
events  were  taking  place  in  the  East.     In  401,  the  weakness  of 

1  Davis'  Readings,  Vol.  I,  No.  100,  gives  a  famous  instance. 


§259]  LEAGUE  AGADCST  SPARTA  253 

the  Persian  empire  was  strikingly  shown.  C>jrus  the  Younger, 
brother  of  the  king  Artaxerxes,  endeavored  to  seize  the  Persian 
throne.  While  a  satrap  in  Asia  Minor,  Cyrus  had  furnished 
Sparta  the  money  to  keep  her  tie^t  together  before  the  battle 
of  Goat  Rivers ;  and  now,  through  Sparta's  favor,  he  was  able 
to  enlist  ten  thousand  Greeks  in  his  army. 

Cyrus  penetrated  to  the  heart  of  the  Persian  empire;  but  in 
the  battle  of  Gunaxa,  near  P>abylon,  he  was  killed,  and  his 
Asiatic  troops  routed.  The  Ten  Thousand  Greeks,  however, 
proved  unconquerable  by  the  Persiau  host  of  half  a  million. 
By  treachery  the  leaders  were  entrapped  and  murdered ;  but 
under  the  inspiration  oi  .Xenophon^  the  Athenian,  the  Ten 
Thousand  chose  new  generals  and  made  a  remarkable  retreat 
to  the  Greek  districts  on  the  Plack  Sea. 

258.  Renewal  of  the  Persian  Wars. — Until  this  time  the 
Greeks  had  waged  their  contests  with  Persia  only  along  the 
coasts  of  Asia.  After  the  Ttni  Thousand  had  marched,  almost 
at  will,  through  so  many  hostile  nations,  the  Greeks  began  to 
dream  of  conquering  the  Asiatic  continent.  .  Seventy  years  later, 
Alexander  the  Great  was  to  make  this  dream  a  fact.  First, 
however,  the  attempt  was  made  by  Agesilaus,  king  of  Sparta. 

Sparta  had  brought  down  upon  herself  the  wrath  of  Persia, 
anyway,  by  favoring  Cyrus  ;  and  Agesilaus  burned  with  a  noble 
ambition  to  free  the  Asiatic  Greeks,  who,  a  little  before  (§  250), 
had  been  abandoned  to  Persia  by  his  country.  Thus  war  began 
between  Sparta  and  Persia.  In  396,  Agesilaus  invaded  Asia 
Minor  with  a  large  army,  but  was  checked,  in  full  career  of 
conquest,  by  events  at  home  (§  259). 

259.  A  Greek  League  against  Sparta,  395  B.C.  —  No  sooner  was 
Sparta  engaged  with  Persia  than  enemies  rose  up  in  Greece  it- 
self. Thebes,  Corinth,  Athens,  and  Argos  formed  an  alliance 
against  her,  and  the  empire  she  had  gained  at  Goat  Rivers 
was  shattered  by  Conon.  Conon  was  the  ablest  of  the  Athenian 
generals  in  the  latter  period  of  the  Peloponnesian  War.      At 

iCf.  §  224  and  §  41.  Xenophon's  Anabasis  is  our  authority  for  these 
events. 


254 


SPAIiTAX   SIJPKKMACY 


[§260 


Goat  Rivers  he  was  the,  only  one,  vvlio  had  kei)t  his  squadron  in 
order;  and  after  all  was  lost,  he  had  escaped  to  lihodcs  and 
entered    I'ersiaii    sfivice.       Now,   in   .'5'.)l,    in    command    of    a 

I'ersian  fleet  (mainly 
made  up  of  Phoeni- 
cian ships)  he  com- 
pletely destroyed  the 
Spartan  naval  power 
at  the  battle  of  Cni- 
dus. 

Spartan  authority 
in  the  Aegean  van- 
ished. Conon  sailed 
from  island  to  island, 
expelling  the  Spartan 
garrisons,  and  restor- 
ing democracies ;  and 
in  the  next  year  he 
anchored  in  the  Pi- 
raeus and  rebuilt  the 
Long  Walls.  Athens 
again  became  one  of 
the  great  powers  ;  and 
Sparta  fell  back  into 
her  old  position  as 
mere  head  of  the  in- 
land Peloponnesian 
league. 

260.  Peace  of  Antalcidas,  387  B.C.  —  After  a  few  more  years 
of  indecisive  war,  Sparta  sought  peace  with  Persia.  In  387, 
the  two  powers  invited  all  the  Greek  states  to  send  deputies  to 
Sardis,  where  the  Persian  king  dictated  the  terms.  The  document 
read :  — 

"  King  Artaxerxes  deem.s  it  just  that  the  cities  in  Asia,  tcith  the  islands 
of  Clazomenae  and  Cyprns.  shuuUl  beloiii^  to  himself.  The  rest  of  the  Hel- 
lenic cities,  both  great  and  small,  he  will  leave  independent,  save  Lemnos, 


The  Hermes  of  Praxiteles. 

The  arms  and  legs  of  the  statue  are  sadly  muti- 
lated, but  the  head  is  one  of  the  most  famous 
remaius  of  (ireek  art.     Cf.  §  220,  note. 


§262j  THEBES  — LEUCTRA  255 

Imbros,  and  Scyros,  which  three  are  to  belong  to  Athens  as  of  yore. 
Sliould  any  of  the  parties  not  accept  this  peace,  I,  Artaxerxes,  together 
with  those  who  share  my  views  [the  Spartans],  will  war  against  the 
offenders  by  land  and  sea."  —  Xenephon.  IleUenica,  v,  1. 

Sparta  held  that  these  terms  dissolved  all  the  other  leagues 
(like  the  Boeotian,  of  which  Thebes  was  the  head),  but  that 
they  did  not  affect  her  own  control  over  her  subject  towns  in 
Laconia,  nor  weaken  the  Peloponnesian  confederacy. 

Thus  Persia  and  Sparta  again  conspired  to  betray  Hellas. 
Persia  helped  Sparta  to  keep  the  European  Greek  states  divided 
and  Aveak,  as  they  were  before  the  Persian  War ;  and  Sparta 
helped 'Persia  to  recover  her  old  authority  over  the  Asiatic 
Greeks.  By  this  iniquity  the  tottering  Spai'tan  supremacy  was 
bolstered  up  a  few  years  longer. 

Of  course  the  shame  of  betraying  the  Asiatic  Greeks  must  be  shared 
by  the  enemies  of  Sparta,  who  had  used  Persian  aid  against  her  ;  but  the 
policy  had  been  first  introduced  by  Sparta  in  seeking  Persian  assistance  in 
412  against  Athens  (§  250)  ;  and  so  far  no  other  Greek  state  had  offered 
to  surrender  Hellenic  cities  to  barbarians  as  the  price  of  such  aid. 

261.  Spartan  Aggressions.  —  Sparta  had  saved  her  power  by 
infamy.  She  used  it,  with  tlie  same  brutal  cunniug  as  in  the 
past,  to  keep  down  the  beginnings  of  greatness  elsewhere  in 
Greece. 

Thus,  Arcadia  had  shown  signs  of  growing  strength ;  but 
Sparta  now  broke  up  the  leading  city,  jMantinea,  and  dispersed 
the  inhabitants  in  villages.  InChalcidice,  the  city  of  Olynthus 
had  organized  its  neighbors  into  a  promising  league.  A  Spartan 
army  compelled  this  league  to  break  up.  While  on  the  way  to 
Chalcidice,  part  of  this  army,  by  treachery,  in  time  of  peace, 
seized  the  citadel  of  Thebes.  And,  when  the  Athenian  naval 
power  began  to  revive,  a  like  treacherous,  though  unsuccessful, 
attempt  was  made  upon  the  Piraeus. 

262.  Thebes  a  Democracy.  —  These  high-handed  outrages 
were  to  react  upon  the  offender.  First  there  came  a  revolution 
at  Thebes.  The  Spartan  garrison  there  had  set  up  an  oligarchic 
ThpV)an  government  which  had  driven  crowds  of  citizens  into 


256 


SPARTAN  SUPREMACY 


[§263 


exile.  Athens  received  them,  just  as  Thebes  had  sheltered 
Athenian  fiiti:itives  in  the  time  of  the  Thirty  Tyrants  ;  and 
from  Athens  Pclopklas,  a  leader  of  the  exiles,  struck  the  return 
blow.*  In  ;i79,  Tliebes  was  surprised  and  seized  by  the  exiles, 
and  the  government  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  democrats. 
Then  Thebes  and  Athens  joined  in  a  new  war  upon  Sparta. 

263.  Leuctra  ;  the  Overthrow  of  Sparta.  —  The  war  dragged 
along  lor  some  years;  and  in  'Mi  I'-.c,  the  contending  parties, 

wearied  with  fruitless 
strife,  concluded  peace. 
But  when  the  treaty  was 
being  signed,  Epaminon- 
das,  the  Theban  repre- 
sentative, demanded  the 
right  to  sign  for  all  Boeo- 
tia,  as  Sparta  had  signed 
for  all  Laconia.  Athens 
would  not  support  Thebes 
in  this  position.  So 
Thebes  was  excluded 
from  the  peace;  and 
Sparta  turned  to  crush  her.  A  powerful  army  at  once  invaded 
Boeotia,  —  and  met  with  an  overwhelming  defeat  hy  a  smaller 
Tliehan  force  at  Leuctra. 

This  amazing  result  was  due  to  the  military  genius  of  Epam- 
inondas.  Hitherto  the  Greeks  had  fought  in  long  lines,  from 
eight  to  twelve  men  deep.  Epaminondas  adopted  a  new 
arrangement  that  marks  a  step  in  warfare.  He  massed  his 
best  troops  in  a  solid  column,  fifty  men  deep,  on  the  left,  oppo- 
site the  Spartan  wing  in  the  Peloponnesian  army.  His  other 
troops  were  spread  out  as  thin  as  possible.     The  solid  phalanx 

1  The  story  is  full  of  adventure.  Pelopidas  and  a  number  of  other  daring 
young  men  among  the  exiles  returned  secretly  to  Thebes,  and,  through  the  aid 
of  friends  there,  were  admitted  (disguised  as  dancing  girls)  to  a  banquet 
where  the  Theban  oligarchs  were  already  deep  in  wine.  They  killed  the 
drunken  traitors  with  their  daggers.  Then,  running  through  the  streets,  they 
called  the  people  to  expel  the  Spartans  from  the  citadel. 


§  265]  EPAMINONDAS  257 

was  set  in  motion  first ;  then  the  thinner  center  and  right  wing 
advanced  more  slowly,  so  as  to  engage  the  attention  of  the 
enemy  opposite,  but  not  to  come  into  action  until  the  battle 
should  have  been  won  by  the  massed  column. 

In  short,  Epaminondas  massed  his  force  against  one  paH  of 
the  enemy.  The  weight  of  the  Theban  charge  crushed  through 
the  Spartan  line,  and  trampled  it  under.  Four  hundred  of  the 
seven  hundred  Spartans,  with  their  king  and  with  a  thousand 
other  Peloponnesian  hoplites,  went  down  in  ten  minutes. 

The  mere  loss  of  men  was  fatal  enough,  now  that  Spartan 
citizenship  was  so  reduced  (the  number  of  full  citizens  after 
this  battle  did  not  exceed  fifteen  hundred) ;  but  the  effect  upon 
the  military  prestige  of  Sparta  was  even  more  deadly.  At  one 
stroke  Sparta  sank  into  a  second-rate  power.  None  the  less, 
Spartan  character  never  showed  to  better  advantage.  Sparta 
was  always  greater  in  defeat  than  in  victor}^,  and  she  met  her 
fate  with  heroic  composure.  The  news  of  the  overthrow  did 
not  interfere  with  a  festival  that  was  going  on,  and  only  the 
relatives  of  the  survivors  of  the  battle  appeared  in  mourning. 

THEBAN  SUPREMACY 

264.  Epaminondas.  —  For  nine  years  after  Leuctra,  Thebes 
was  the  head  of  Greece.  This  position  she  owed  to  her  great 
leader,  Epaminondas,  whose  life  marks  one  of  the  fair  heights 
to  which  human  nature  can  ascend.  Epaminondas  was  great 
as  general,  statesman,  and  i)hilosopher ;  but  he  was  greatest  as 
a  man,  lofty  and  lovable  in  nature.  In  his  earlier  days  he  had 
been  looked  upon  as  a  dreamer;  and  when  the  oligarchs  of 
Thebes  drove  out  Pelopidas  and  other  active  patriots  (§  262), 
they  only  sneered  while  Epaminondas  continued  calmly  to  talk 
of  liberty  to  the  young.  Later,  it  was  recognized  that,  more 
than  any  other  man,  he  had  prepared  the  way  for  the  over- 
throw of  tyranny  ;  and  after  the  expulsion  of  the  oligarchs  he 
became  the  organizer  of  the  democracy. 

265.  Sparta  surrounded  by  Hostile  Cities.  —  Epaminondas 
sought  to  do  for  Thebes  what  Pericles  had  done  for  Athens. 


258  TIIEHAN   SlPIiKMACY  [§  2G6 

While  lie  lived,  success  seemed  possible.  Uidiapi)ily,  tin;  few 
years  remaining,'  of  his  life  he  was  comixdled  to  give  mainly  to 
war.  Laconia  was  repeatedly  invaded.  During  these  cam- 
l)aigus  Epamiuondas  freed  Messenia,'  on  one  side  of  8i)arta, 
and  organized  Arcadia,  on  the  other  side,  into  a  federal  union, 
—  so  as  to  "surround  Sparta  with  a  perpetual  blockade." 
The  great  Theban  aided  the  Messenians  to  found  a  new  ca{)- 
ital,  McKsene ;  and  in  Arcadia  he  restored  Mantinea,  which 
Sparta  had  destroyed  (§  261).  In  this  district  he  also  founded 
Megalopolis,  or  "  the  Great  City,"  by  combining  forty  scattered 
villages. 

266.  Athens  (jealous  of  Thebes)  saved  Sparta  from  complete 
destruction,  but  drew  Theban  vengeance  upon  herself.  Epam- 
inondas  built  fleets,  swept  the  Athenian  navy  from  the  seas,  and 
made  Euboea  a  Theban  possession.  Thessaly  and  Macedonia, 
too,  were  brought  under  Theban  influence;  and  the  young  Philip, 
prince  of  Macedon,  spent  some  years  in  Thebes  as  a  hostage. 

267.  Mantinea.  —  The  leadership  of  Thebes,  however,  rested 
solely  on  the  supreme  genius  of  her  one  great  statesman,  and 
it  vanished  at  his  death.  In  362,  for  the  fourth  time,  Epami- 
nondas  marched  against  Sparta,  and  at  Mantinea  won  another 
great  victory.  The  Spartans  had  been  unable  to  learn ;  and 
went  down  again  before  the  same  tactics  that  had  crushed  them 
nine  years  before  at  Leuctra.  Mantinea  was  the  greatest  land 
battle  ever  fought  between  Hellenes,  and  nearly  all  the  states 
of  Greece  took  part  on  one  side  or  the  other.  But  the  victory 
bore  no  fruit ;  for  Epaminondas  himself  fell  on  the  field,  and 
his  city  sank  at  once  to  a  slow  and  narrow  policy. 

No  state  was  left  in  Greece  to  assume  leadership.  A  turbu- 
lent anarchy,  in  place  of  the  stern  Spartan  rule,  seemed  the 
only  fruit  of  the  brief  glory  of  the  great  Theban. 

268.  Failure  of  the  City-state.  —  The  failure  of  the  Greek  cities  to 
unite  in  larger  states  made  it  certain  that  sooner  or  later  they  must  fall 

1  Messi'iiia  had  heeii  a  mere  district  of  Laconia  for  nearly  two  centuries 
aud  a  lialf .    Its  loss  took  from  Sparta  more  than  a  third  of  her  whole  territoiy. 


yi/  in/.  rtU4 
§  2701  MACEDOX   AND   PHTLIP  II  V  259 

to  some  outside  power.  Sparta  and  Thebes  (with  Persian  aid)  had 
been  able  to  prevent  Athenian  leadership :  Thebes  and  Athens  had 
overthrown  Sparta :  Sparta  and  Athens  had  been  able  to  check  Thebes. 
Twenty  years  of  anarchy  followed :  and  then  Greece  fell  to  a  foreign 
master.  On  the  north  there  had  been  growing  up  a  nation- state ;  and 
the  city-state  could  not  stand  before  that  stronger  organization. 

Foil  FiKTHER  Reading.  —  Sppcinlhj  snr/i/estrd :  Davis'  licaiJings, 
Vol.  I,  Nos.  100  ("Thirty  Tyrants"),  101  (Kpaniiiiondas),  and  102 
(Leuctra).     Plutarch's  Lives  ("  Agesilaus"  and  "  IViopida-s  '"). 

Additional :  Bury,  514-628. 

THE    MACEDONIAN   CONQUEST 

269.  Macedon. — The  Macedonians  were  |)art  of  the  "outer 
rim  of  tlie  Greek  race."  They  were  still  barbaric,  and 
perhaps  were  mixed  somewhat  with  non-Hellenic  elements. 
Shortly  before  this  time,  they  were  only  a  loose  union  of 
tribes ;  but  Philip  II  (§  270)  had  now  consolidated  them  into 
a  real  nation.  The  change  was  so  recent  that  Alexander  the 
Great,  a  little  later,  could  say  to  his  army:  — 

"  My  father,  Philip,  found  you  a  roving,  destitute  people,  without  fixed 
homes  and  without  resources,  most  of  you  clad  in  the  skin.s  of  animals, 
pa.sturing  a  few  sheep  among  the  mountains,  and,  to  defend  these,  waging 
a  luckle.ss  warfare  with  the  Illyrians,  the  Triballans,  and  the  Thracians 
on  your  borders.  He  gave  you  the  soldier's  cloak  to  replace  the  skins, 
and  led  you  down  from  the  mountains  into  the  plain,  making  you  a 
worthy  match  in  war  against  the  barbarians  on  your  frontier,  so  that  you 
no  longer  trusted  to  your  strongholds,  .so  much  a.s  to  your  own  valor, 
for  safety.  He  made  you  to  dwell  in  cities  and  provided  you  with 
wiiolesome  laws  and  institutions.  Over  tho.se  same  barbarians,  who 
before  had  plundered  you  and  carried  off  as  booty  both  yourselves  and 
your  substance,  he  made  you  masters  and  lords."  ^ 

270.  Philip  II  of  Macedon  is  one  of  most  remarkable  men  in 
hi.story.'  He  was  ambitious,  crafty,  sagacious,  persistent,  un- 
scrupulous, an  unfailing  judge  of  character,  and  a  marvelous 
organizer.     He  set  himself  to  make  his  people  true  Greeks  by 

'  Seo  the  re.st  of  this  passage  in  Davis'  Readifu/s,  Vol.  I,  No.  107. 

'^  Wheeler's  characterization,  Alexander  the  Great,  5-7,  is  adaiirable. 


260 


MACEDONIAN   CONQUEST 


[§271 


making  them  the  leaders  of  (Jreeoe.  He  was  determined  to 
secure  that  headsliij)  for  wliicli  Athens,  Si)arta,  and  Thebes  had 
striven  in  vain. 

271.  Philip's  Methods.  — At  Philijj's  accession  Macedon  was 
still  a  jtoor  country  without  a  good  harbor.     The    first  need 

was  an  outlet  on  the  sea. 
Philip  found  one  by  con- 
((uering  the  Chalcidic  pen- 
insula. Then  his  energy 
developed  the  gold  mines 
of  the  district  until  they 
furnished  him  a  yearly 
revenue  of  a  thousand  tal- 
ents—  as  large  as  that  of 
Athens  at  her  greatest 
power. 

Next  Philip  turned  to 
Greece  itself.  Here  he 
used  an  adroit  mingling  of 
cunning,  bribery,  and  force. 
In  all  Greek  states,  among 
the  pretended  patriot  statesmen,  there  were  secret  servants  in 
his  pay.  He  set  city  against  city  ;  and  the  constant  tendency 
to  quarrels  among  the  Greeks  played  into  his  hands. 

272.  Demosthenes.  —  The  only  man  who  saw  clearly  the 
designs  of  Philip,  and  constantly  opposed  them,  was  Demos- 
thenes the  Athenian.  Demosthenes  was  the  greatest  orator 
of  Greece.  To  check  jNIacedpnia  became  the  one  aim  of  his 
life ;  and  the  last  glow  of  Greek  independence  flames  up  in 
his  passionate  appeals  to  Athens  that  she  defend  Hellas 
against  Macedon  as  she  had  once  done  against  Persia. 

"  Suppose  tliat  you  have  one  of  the  gods  Sis  surety  that  Philip  will 
leave  you  untouched,  in  the  name  of  all  the  gods,  it  is  a  shame  for  you 
in  ignorant  stupidity  to  sacrifice  the  rest  of  Hellas  !  " 

The  noble  orations  (the  Philippics)  by  which  Demosthenes 
sought  to  move  the  Athenian  assembly  to  action  against  Philip 


Philip  II. 
From  a  gold  medallion  by  Alexander. 


§273] 


THE   MACEDONIAN  ARMY 


20  i 


are  still  unrivaled  in  literature/  but  they  had  no  permanent 
practical  effect. 

273.    The  Macedonian  Army.  —  The  most  important  work  of 
Philip  was  his  army.     This  was  as  superior  to  the  four-months 


CO         Q    «»^  /) 


citizen  armies  of  Hellas  as  Philip's  steady  and  secret  diplomacy 
was  superior  to  the  changing  councils  of  a  popular  assembly. 
The  king's  wealth  enabled  him  to  keep  a  disciplined  force 
ready  for  action.  He  had  become  familiar  with  the  Theban 
phalanx  during  his  stay  at  Thebes  as  a  boy  (§  2C6).     Now  he 


1  Cf.  §  223.    Special  report  :  Demosthenes. 


262  MACKDONIAN   CONQUEST  [5  274 

enlarged  and  improved  it,  so  tliat  the  ranks  presented  five 
rows  of  l)ristling  spears  projecting  beyond  the  front  soldier. 
The  Hanks  were  jirotected  by  light-armed  troops,  and  the 
Macedonian  nobles  furnished  the  finest  of  cavalry. 

At  the  same  time  a  field  "  artillery  "  first  appears,  made  up 
of  curious  engines  able  to  throw  darts  and  great  stones  three 
hinidred  yards.  Such  a  'mixture  of  troo]>s,  and  on  a  permanent 
footing,  was  altogether  novel.  Philip  created  the  instrument 
with  Avhich  his  son  was  to  conquer  the  world. 

274.  Chaeronea  and  the  Congress  of  Corinth.  —  In  338  b.c. 
Philip  threw  oft'  the  mask  and  invaded  Greece.  Athens  and 
Thebes  combined  against  him,  —  to  be  hopelessly  crushed  at 
the  battle  of  Chaeronea.  Then  a  congress  of  Greek  states  at 
Corinth  recognized  Macedonia  as  the  head  of  Greece.  It  was 
agreed  that  the  separate  states  should  keep  their  local  self- 
government,  but  that  foreign  matters,  including  war  and  peace, 
should  be  committed  to  Philip.  Philip  was  also  declared  gen- 
eral ill  chief  of  the  armies  of  Greece  for  a  war  against  Persia. 

275.  The  History  of  Hellas  Ended.  —  Thus  Philip  posed, 
wisely,  not  as  the  conqueror,  but  as  the  champion  of  Greece 
against  the  foe  of  all  Hellenes.  He  showed  a  patient  mag- 
nanimity, too,  toward  fickle  Greek  states,  and  in  particular  he 
strove  to  reconcile  Athens.  He  was  wise  enough  to  see  that 
he  needed,  not  reluctant  subjects,  but  willing  followers. 

None  the  less,  the  history  of  Hellas  had  closed.  Greece  there- 
after, until  a  hundred  years  ago,  was  only  a  province  of  this 
or  that  foreign  power.  The  history  of  Hellenic  culture,  hoicever, 
was  not  closed.  The  Macedonian  conquest  was  to  spread  that 
civilization  over  the  vast  East.  The  history  of  Hellas  merges 
171  the  history  of  a  ivider  Hellenistic  tvorld. 


For  Further  Reading.  —  Specially  suggested :  Davis'  Readings, 
"Vol.  I,  Nos.  108-107.  Bury,  ch.  xvi  ;  or  (better  if  accessible)  Wheeler's 
Alexander  the  Great,  14-18  and  64-80. 

Exercise.  —  Review  tlie  period  from  Aegospotami  to  Chaeronea  by 
"  catch-words  "  (see  Exercise  on  page  186). 


PART   Til 

THE  GRAEOO-OEIENTAL  WORLD 

With  Alexander  (he  stage  of  Greek  influence  spreads  across  the  irorlti 
and  Greece  becomes  only  a  small  item  in  the  heritage  of  the  Greeks. 

—  Mahaffy. 

The  seed-ground  of  European  civilization  is  neither  Greece  nor  the 
Orient,  but  a  world  joined  of  the  two.  —  Benjamin  Ide  Wheeler. 


»*_^ 


-MlZ. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

THE  MINGLING  OF  EAST   AND   WEST 

276.  Alexander  the  Great.  —  Philip  of  Macedon  was  assassi- 
nated in  336,  two  years  after  Chaeronea.  He  was  just  ready 
to  begin  the  invasion  of  Asia ;  and  his  work  was  taken  up  by 
his  son  Alexander. 

Father  and  son  were  both  among  the  greatest  men  in  his- 
tory, but  they  were  very  unlike.  In  many  ways  Alexander 
resembled  his  mother,  Olympias,  a  semi-barbaric  princess  from 
Epirus,  —  a  woman  of  intense  passions  and  generous  enthusi- 
asms.    Says  Benjamin  Ide  Wheeler:  — 

"  While  it  was  from  his  father  that  Alexander  inherited  his  sagacious 
insight  into  men  and  things,  and  his  brilliant  capacity  for  timely  and 
determineil  aation,  it  was  to  his  mother  tliat  he  undoubtedly  owed  that 
pas.sionatt'  warmth  of  nature  wJiich  betrayed  itself  not  only  in  the  furious 
outbursts  of  temper  occa.sionally  characteristic  of  him,  but  quite  as  much 
in  a  romantic  fervor  of  attachment  and  love  for  friends,  a  delicate  tender- 
ness of  sympathy  for  the  weak,  and  a  princely  largeness  and  generosity 
of  soul  toward  all,  that  made  him  so  deeply  beloved  of  men  and  so 
enthusiastically  followed. "  —  Alexander  the  Great,  5. 

263 


264         (JREp:k  conquests  in  the  orient       [§277 

As  a  boy,  Alexander  had  been  fearless,  self-will(;(l,  and  rest;- 
less,  with  fervent  affections.'  These  traits  marked  his  whole 
career.  He  was  devoted  to  Homer,  and  he  knew  tlie  Iliad  by 
heart.  Homer's  Achilles  he  claimed  for  an  ancestor  and  took  for 
his  ideal.  His  later  education  was  directed  by  Aristotle  (§  315), 
and  from  this  great  teacher  he  learned  to  admire  Greek  art  and 
science  and  to  come  closely  into  sympathy  with  the  best 
Greek  culture. 

277.  Restoration  of  Order.  —  At  his  father's  death  Alexander 
was  a  stripling  of  twenty  years.     He  was  to  prove  a  rare  mili- 


Alexander.  Alexander  ix  a  Lion-hunt. 

Two  sides  of  a  gold  medallion  of  Tarsus. 

tary  genius.  He  never  lost  a  battle  and  never  refused  an 
engagement ;  and,  on  occasion,  he  could  be  shrewd  and  adroit  in 
diplomacy ;  but  at  this  time  he  was  known  only  as  a  rash  boy. 
No  one  thought  that  he  could  hold  together  the  empire  that 
had  been  built  up  by  the  force  and  cunning  of  the  great  Philip. 
Kevolt  broke  out  everywhere ;  but  the  young  king  showed 
himself  at  once  both  statesman  and  general.  With  marvelous 
rapidity  he  struck  crushing  blows  on  this  side  and  on  that.  A 
hurried  expedition  restored  order  in  Greece ;  the  savage  tribes 
of  the  north  were  quieted  by  a  rapid  march  beyond  the  Danube; 

1  Special  report:  anecdotes  from  Plutarch  regarding  Alexander's  boyhood. 


§278] 


ALEXANDER  THE   GREAT 


265 


then,    turning   on    rebellious    Illyria,    Alexander    forced    the 
mountain  passes  and  overran  the  country. 

Meanwhile  it  was  reported  in  the  south  that  Alexander  was 
killed  or  defeated  among  the  barbarians.  Insurrection  again 
blazed  forth  ;  but  with  forced  marches  he  suddenly  appeared  a 
second  time  in  Greece,  falling  with  swift  and  terrible  vengeance 
upon  Thebes,  the  center  of 
the  revolt.  The  city  was 
taken  by  storm  and  leveled 
to  the  ground,  except  the 
house  of  Pindar  (§  129i. 
while  the  thirty  thousand 
survivors  of  the  poimhi- 
tion  were  sold  as  slaves. 
The  other  states  were  ter- 
rified into  abject  submis- 
sion, and  were  treated 
generously.  Then,  with 
his  authority  firmly  re- 
established, Alexander 
turned,  as  the  champion  of 
Hellas,  to  attack  Persia. 

278.    The   Persian   Cam- 
paigns. —  In     the     spring 


of 


>4    B.C.    Alexander 


Alexandp:r. 
Tbt'  "Copenhagen"  head.    Probably  by 
pupil  of  the  sculptor  Skopas. 


crossed  the  Hellespont 

with  thirty -five  thousand 

disciplined  troops.     The  army  was  quite  enough  to  scatter  any 

Oriental  force,  and  as  large  as  any  general  could  then  handle 

in  long  and  rapid  marches  in  a  hostile  country ;  but  its  size 

contrasts  strangely  with  that  of  the  huge  horde  Xerxes  had 

led  against  Greece  a  century  and  a  half  before. 

The  route  of  march  and  the  immense  distances  traversed  can 
be  best  traced  by  the  map.  The  conquest  of  the  main  empire 
occui)ied  five  years,  and  the  story  falls  into  three  distinct 
(■hapters,  each  marked  by  a  world-famous  battle. 


266  rjRKKK  CONQUESTS   TN   TTTE   ORIENT  [§278 

a.  Asia  Minor:  Battle  of  the,  GranicuH.  —  The  Persian 
satraps  of  Asia  Minor  met  tlie  invaders  at  tlie  Granicus,  a 
small  stream  in  ancient  Troyland.  With  the  personal  rash- 
ness that  was  the  one  blot  upon  his  military  skill,  Alexander 
himself  led  the  Macedonian  charge  through  the  river  and  up 
the  steep  bank  into  the  midst  of  the  Persian  cavalry,  where 
he  barely  escaped  death.  The  Persian  nobles  fought,  as 
always,  with  gallant  self-devotion,  but  in  the  end  they  were 
utterly  routed.  Then  a  body  of  Greek  mercenaries  in  Persian 
pay  was  surrounded  and  cut  down  to  a  man.  No  quarter  was 
to  be  given  Hellenes  fighting  as  traitors  to  the  cause  of  Hellas. 

The  victory  cost  Alexander  only  120  men,  and  it  made  him 
master  of  all  Asia  Minor.  During  the  next  few  months  he  set 
up  democracies  in  the  Greek  cities,  and  organized  the  govern- 
ment of  the  various  provinces. 

h.  The  Mediterranean  Coast :  Battle  of  Issus.  —  To  strike  at 
the  heart  of  the  empire  at  once  would  have  been  to  leave  be- 
hind him  a  large  Persian  fleet,  to  encourage  revolt  in  Greece. 
Alexander  wisely  determined  to  secure  the  entire  coast,  and 
so  protect  his  rear,  before  marching  into  the  interior.  Ac- 
cordingly he  turned  south,  just  after  crossing  the  mountains 
that  separate  Asia  Minor  from  Syria,  to  reduce  Phoenicia  and 
Egypt.  Meantime  the  Persians  had  gathered  a  great  army ; 
but  at  Issus  Alexander  easily  overthrew  their  host  of  six  hun- 
dred thousand  men  led  by  King  Darius  in  person.  Darius 
allowed  himself  to  be  caught  in  a  narrow  defile  between  the 
mountains  and  the  sea.  The  cramped  space  made  the  vast 
numbers  of  the  Persians  an  embarrassment  to  themselves. 
They  soon  became  a  huddled  mob  of  fugitives,  and  the  Mace- 
donians wearied  themselves  with  slaughter. 

Alexander  now  assumed  the  title,  King  of  Persia.  The  siege 
of  Tyre  (§  57)  detained  him  a  year ;  but  Egypt  welcomed  him 
as  a  deliverer,  and  by  the  close  of  332,  all  the  sea  poiver  of  the 
Eastern  Mediterranean  ^cas  his.^     While  in  Egypt  he  showed  his 

1  Carthage  dominated  the  western  waters  of  the  Mediterranean  —  beyond 
Italy ;  but  she  had  nothing  to  do  with  naval  rivalries  farther  east. 


§  279]  PERSIAN   CAMPAIGNS  267 

constructive  genius  by  founding  Alexandria  at  one  of  the 
mouths  of  the  Nile  —  a  city  destined  for  many  centuries  to 
be  a  commercial  and  intellectual  center  for  the  world,  where 
before  there  had  been  only  a  haunt  of  pirates. 

c.  The  Tigris-EuphrateH  District :  Battle  of  Arbela.  —  Darius 
now  proposed  that  he  and  Alexander  should  divide  the  empire 
between  them.  Rejecting  this  offer  contemptuously,  Alexander 
took  up  his  march  for  the  interior.  Following  the  ancient 
route  from  Egypt  to  Assyria  (§  6),  he  met  Darius  near  Arbela, 
not  far  from  ancient  Nineveh.  The  Persians  are  said  to  have 
numbered  a  million  men.  Alexander  purposely  allowed  them 
choice  of  time  and  place,  and  by  a  third  decisive  victory  j?roved 
the  hopelessness  of  their  resistance.  Darius  never  gathered 
another  army.  The  capitals  of  the  empire  —  Babylon,  Susa, 
Ecbatana,  Persepolis  —  surrendered,  with  enormous  treasure 
in  gold  and  silver,  and  the  Persian  Empire  had  fallen  (331  B.C.). 

The  Granicus,  Issus,  and  Arbela  rank  with  Marathon,  Salamis,  and 
Plataea,  as  "  decisive  "  battles.  The  earlier  set  of  three  great  battles 
gave  Western  civilization  a  chance  to  develop.  This  second  set  of  three 
battles  resulted  in  a  new  type  of  civilization,  springing  from  a  union  of 
East  and  West.  No  battle  between  these  two  periods  had  anywhere 
near  so  great  a  significance. 

279.  Campaigns  in  the  Far  East.  —  The  next  six  years  went, 
however,  to  much  more  desperate  warfare  in  the  eastern  moun- 
tain regions,  and  in  the  Punjab.^  Alexander  carried  his  arms 
as  far  east  from  Babylon  as  Babylon  was  from  Macedonia. 
He  traversed  great  deserts ;  subdued  the  warlike  and  princely 
chiefs  of  Bactria  and  Sogdiana  up  to  the  steppes  of  the  wild 
Tartar  tribes  beyond  the  Oxus;  twice  forced  the  passes 
of  the  Hindukush  (a  feat  almost  unparalleled) ;  conquered 
the  valiant  mountaineers  of  what  is  now  Afghanistan ;  and 
led  his  army  into  the  fertile  and  populous  plains  of  north- 
ern India.  He  crossed  the  Indus,  won  realms  beyond  thf 
ancient   Persian    provintie   of  the  Punjab,   and    planned  still 

1  A  district  of  northern  India- 


268  THE   HELLENISTIC^   AGE  1§  280 

more  distant  empires;  but  on  tlu;  l)anks  of  the  Hypliasis 
Kiver  his  faithful  Macedonians  I'efused  to  be  led  farther,  to 
waste  away  in  inhuman  i)erils ;  and  the  chagrined  conqueror 
was  compelled  to  return  to  Babylon.  This  city  he  made  his 
capital,  and  liere  he  died  of  a  fever  two  years  later  (323  is.c.)  in 
the  midst  of  preparations  to  extend  his  conquests  both  east 
and  west.^  These  last  years,  however,  were  given  mainly  to 
organizing  the  empire  (§  280). 

280.  Merging  of  East  and  "West.  —  Alexander  began  his  con- 
quest to  avenge  the  West  upon  the  East.  But  he  came  to  see 
excellent  and  noble  qualities  in  Oriental  life,  and  he  rose 
ra])idly  to  a  broader  view.  He  aimed  no  longer  to  hold  a 
world  in  subjection  by  the  force  of  a  small  conquering  tribe^ 
but  rather  to  mold  Persian  and  Greek  into  one  people  on  terms 
of  equality.  He  wished  to  marry  the  East  and  the  West,  — 
"  to  bring  them  together  into  a  composite  civilization,  to  which 
each  should  contribute  its  better  elements." 

Persian  youth  were  trained  by  thousands  in  Macedonian 
fashion  to  replace  the  veterans  of  Alexander's  army  ;  Persian 
nobles  were  welcomed  at  court  and  given  high  offices ;  and  the 
government  of  Asia  was  intrusted  largely  to  Asiatics,  on  a 
system  similar  to  that  of  Darius  the  Great  (§  76).  Alexander 
himself  adopted  Persian  manners  and  customs,  and  he  bribed 
and  coaxed  his  officers  and  soldiers  to  do  the  like.  All  this 
was  part  of  a  deliberate  design  to  encourage  the  fusion  of  the 
two  peoples.  The  Macedonians  protested  jealously,  and  even 
rebelled,  but  were  quickly  reduced  to  obedience. 

"  The  dream  of  his  youth  melted  away,  but  a  new  vision  in  larger 
perspective  arose  with  ever  strengthening  outlines  in  its  place.  The 
champion  of  the  West  against  the  East  faded  in  mist,  and  the  form  of  a 
world  monarch,  standing  above  the  various  worlds  of  men  and  belong- 
ing to  none,  but  molding  them  all  into  one,  emerged  in  its  stead."  — 
Wheelek,  Alexander  the  Great,  376. 


1  Topic:  anecdotes  of  Alexander's  later  years;  the  change  in  his  character. 
Wheeler's  Alexander  gives  an  ardent  defense. 


282] 


GREEK  CITIES  IN   THE   EAST 


269 


281.  Hellenism  the  Active  Element.  —  At  the  same  time  Alex- 
ander saw  that  to  fulfill  this  mission  he  must  throw  open  the 
East  to  Greek  ideas.  The  races  might  mingle  their  blood;  the 
Greek  might  learn  much  from  the  Orient,  and  in  the  end  be 
absorbed  by  it ;  but  the  thought  and  art  of  little  Hellas,  with  its 
active  energy,  must  leaven 
the  vast  iKif^sive  viass  of 
the  East. 

One  great  measure,  for 
this  end,  was  the  found- 
ing of  chains  of  cities,  to 
bind  the  conquests  to- 
gether and  to  become  the 
homes  of  Hellenic  influ- 
ence. Alexander  himself 
built  seventy  of  these 
towns  (usually  called  from 
his  name,  like  the  Alex- 
andria in  Egypt).  Their 
walls  sprang  up  under  the 
pick  and  spade  of  the  sol- 
diery along  the  lines  of 
march.  One  great  city,  we 
are  told,  walls  and  houses, 
was  completed  in  twenty 

days.  Sometimes  these  places  were  mere  garrison  towns  on  dis- 
tant frontiers,  but  oftener  they  became  mighty  emporiums  at  the 
intersection  of  great  lines  of  trade.  There  was  an  Alexandria 
on  the  Jaxartes,  on  the  Indus,  on  the  Euphrates,  as  well  as  on 
the  Nile.  The  sites  were  chosen  wisely,  and  many  of  these  cities 
remain  great  capitals  to  this  day,  like  Herat  and  Kandahar.^ 

282.  Greek  Colonies  in  the  Orient.  —  This  building  of  Greek 
cities  was  continued  by  Alexander's  successors.  Once  more, 
and  on  a  vaster  scale  than  ever  before,  the  Greek  genius  for 


Alexander  as  Apollo.  ctX'itJ 
Now  in  the  Capif  oline  Museum 


QoevMA 


1  Iskandar,  or  Kandahar,  is  an  Oriental  form  of  the  Greek  name  Alexander. 


270  THE   HELLENISTIC  AGE  [§282 

(colonization  found  vent.  Each,  jiew  city  had  a  Greek  nudeus. 
Usually  tins  consisted  only  of  worn-out  veterans,  left  behind  as 
a  garrison  ;  but  enterprising  youth,  emigrating  from  old  Hellas, 
continued  to  reinforce  the  Greek  element.  The  native  village 
people  roundaljout  were  gathered  in  to  make  the  bulk  of  the 
inhabitants;  and  these  also  soon  took  on  Greek  character. 
From  scattered,  ignorant  rustics,  they  became  artisans  and 
merchants,  devotedly  attached  to  Greek  rule  and  zealous 
disciples  of  Greek  culture. 

The  cities  were  all  built  on  a  large  and  comfortable  model. 
They  were  well  paved.  They  had  ample  provision  for  light- 
ing by  night,  and  a  good  water  supply.  They  had  police 
airaiigemeuts,  and  good  thoroughfares.  Even  in  that  despotic 
East,  they  received  extensive  privileges  and  enjoyed  a  large 
amount  of  self-government :  they  met  in  their  own  assemblies, 
managed  their  own  courts,  and  collected  their  own  taxes. 
For  centuries  they  made  the  backbone  of  Hellenism  throughout 
the  world.  Greek  was  the  ordinary  speech  of  their  streets; 
Greek  architecture  built  their  temples,  and  Greek  sculpture 
adorned  them  ;  they  celebrated  Greek  games  and  festivals ; 
and,  no  longer  in  little  Hellas  alone,  but  over  the  whole  East, 
in  Greek  theaters,  vast  audiences  were  educated  by  the  plays 
of  Euripides.  The  culture  developed  by  a  small  people  became 
the  heritage  of  a  vast  world. 

The  unity  of  this  widespread  civilization  cannot  be  insisted  upon  too 
strongly.  Political  unity  was  soon  lost ;  but  the  oneness  of  culture  en- 
dured for  centuries,  and  kept  its  character  even  after  Roman  conquest. 
Over  all  that  vast  area  there  was  for  all  cultivated  men  a  common  lan- 
guage, a  common  literature,  a  common  mode  of  thought.  The  mingling 
of  East  and  West  produced  a  new  civilization,  —  a  Graeco-Oriental  world. 

In  our  own  day.  Western  civilization  is  again  transforming  the  Orient, 
leaving  the  railroad,  the  telegraph,  free  schools,  and  republican  govern- 
ment in  its  line  of  march.  —  a  march  that  reaches  even  farther  than 
Alexander  ever  did.  Between  Alexander's  day  and  ours,  no  like  phe- 
nomena has  been  seen  on  any  scale  so  vast.  But  this  time  the  West 
does  not  give  so  large  a  part  of  its  blood  to  the  East ;  nor  does  the  East 
react  upon  the  West,  as  it  did  after  Alexander  (§  283) . 


§  285]  REACTION   UPON   GREECE  271 

283.  Reaction  upon  Hellas.  —  Hellas  itself  lost  importance. 
It  was  drained  of  its  intellect  and  enterprise,  because  adven- 
turous young  Greeks  wandered  to  the  East,  to  win  fortune  and 
distinction.  And  the  victorious  Hellenic  civilization  was 
modified  by  its  victory,  even  in  its  old  home.  Sympathies 
were  broadened.  The  barrier  between  Greek  and  barbarian 
faded  away.      Greek  ideals  were  affected  by  Oriental  ideals. 

In  particular,  we  note  two  forms  of  reaction  upon  Greek 
life,  —  the  economic  and  the  scientific  (§§  284,  285). 

284.  Economic  Results.  — Wealth  was  enormously  augmented. 
The  vast  treasure  of  gold  and  silver  which  Oriental  monarchs 
had  hoarded  in  secret  vaults  was  thrown  again  into  circulation, 
and  large  sums  were  brought  back  to  P]urope  by  returning 
adventurers.  These  adventurers  brought  back  also  an  increased 
desire  for  Oriental  luxuries.  Thus,  trade  was  stimulated ;  a 
higher  standard  of  living  arose ;  manifold  new  comforts  and 
enjoyments  adorned  and  enriched  life. 

Somewhat  later,  perhaps  as  a  result  of  this  increase  of  wealth, 
there  came  other  less  fortunate  changes.  Exlrpmes  of  xoealth 
and  poverty  appeared  side  by  side,  as  in  our  modern  society  :  the 
great  cities  had  their  hungry,  sullen,  dangerous  mobs;  and 
socialistic  agitation  began  on  a  large  scale.  These  last  phe- 
nomena, however,  concerned  only  the  closing  days  of  the 
Hellenic  world,  just  before  its  absorption  by  Rome. 

285.  Scientific  Results.  —  A  new  era  of  scientific  progress 
began.  Alexander  himself  had  the  zeal  of  an  explorer,  and  one 
of  the  most  important  scientific  expeditions  ever  sent  out  by 
any  government  is  due  to  him  while  he  was  in  India.  When 
he  first  touched  the  Indus,  he  thought  it  the  upper  course  of 
the  Nile ;  but  he  built  a  great  fleet  of  two  thousand  vessels, 
sailed  down  the  river  to  the  Indian  Ocean,  and  then  sent  his 
friend  Nearchus  to  explore  that  sea  and  to  trace  the  coast  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Euphrates.  After  a  voyage  of  many  months, 
Kearchus  reached  Babylon.  He  had  mapped  the  coast  line, 
made  frequent  landings,  and  collected  a  mass  of  observations 
and  a  multitude  of  strange  plants  and  animals. 


272  THE   HELLENISTIC   AGE  [§  286 

Like  colliM-tions  were  made  by  Alexander  at  other  times,  to 
be  sent  to  his  ohl  instructor  Aristotle,  who  embodied  the  results 
of  his  study  upon  them  in  a  Natural  History  of  fifty  volumes. 
The  Greek  intellect,  attracted  by  the  marvels  in  the  new  world 
opened  before  it,  turned  to  scientiiic  observation  and  arrange- 
ment of  facts.  This  impulse  was  intensified  by  the  discovery 
of  a  long  series  of  astronomical  observations  at  Babylon  (§  49) 
and  of  the  historical  records  and  traditions  of  the  Orientals, 
reaching  back  to  an  antiquity  of  which  the  Greeks  had  not 
dreamed.  The  active  Greek  mind,  seizing  upon  this  confused 
wealth  of  material,  began  to  put  in  order  a  great  system  of 
knowledge  about  man  and  nature. 

286.  Summary.  — Thus  the  mingling  of  East  and  West  gave 
a  prtxhict  (1  liferent  from  either  of  the  old  factors.  Alexander's 
victories  are  not  merely  events  in  military  history.  They 
make  an  epoch  in  the  onward  march  of  humanity.  They  en- 
larged the  map  of  the  world  once  more,  and  they  made  these 
vaster  spaces  the  home  of  a  higher  culture.  Tliey  grafted  the 
new  West  upon  the  old  East,  —  a  graft  from  v:hich  sprang  the 
plant  of  oar  later  civilization. 

Alexander  died  at  thirty-two,  and  his  empire  at  once  fell 
into  fragments.  Had  he  lived  to  seventy,  it  is  hard  to  say 
what  he  might  not  have  done  to  provide  for  lasting  political 
union,  and  perhaps  even  to  bring  India  and  China  into  the 
current  of  our  civilization. 

"  No  single  personality,  excepting  tlie  carpenter's  son  of  Nazareth,  has 
done  so  much  to  mal^;e  the  world  we  live  in  what  it  is  as  Alexander  of 
Macedon.  He  leveled  the  terrace  upon  tchich  European  history  built. 
Whatever  lay  witliin  tlie  range  of  liis  conquests  contributed  its  part  to 
form  that  Mediterranean  civilization,  which  under  Rome's  administration 
became  the  basis  of  European  life.  What  lay  beyond  was  as  if  on  a'l- 
other  planet."  — Wheeler,  Alexander  the  Great. 


For  FtRTHER  Reading.  —  Specially  suggested :  Davis'  Headings, 
Vol.  I,  Nos.  108-118  (24  pages,  mo.stiy  from  Arrian,  a  second  century 
writer  and  the  earliest  authority  who  has  left  us  an  account  of  Alexander). 
Bury,  736-830,  or  (better,  if  accessible)  AVheeler"s  Ale.i-nnder  the  Gi'eat. 


CHAPTER    XVITI 

THE   GRAECO-ORIENTAL   WORLD 
THE. POLITICAL    STOUY 

287.  Wars  of  the  Succession.  —  Alexander  left  no  heir  old 
enough  to  succeed  him.  On  his  deathbed,  asked  to  whom  he 
would  leave  his  throne,  he  replied  grimly,  "To  the  strongest." 
As  he  foresaw,  at  his  death  his  leading  generals  instantly 
began  to  strive  with  each  other  for  his  realm  ;  and  for  nearly 
half  a  century  the  political  history  of  the  civilized  world  was 
a  horrible  welter  of  Avar  and  assassination.  These  struggles 
are  called  the    Wars  of  the  Succession  (323-280  b.c). 

288.  The  Third  Century  B.C.  —  Finally,  about  280  b.c.,  some- 
thing like  a  tixed  order  emerged ;  then  followed  a  period  of 
sixty  years,  known  as  the  Glory  of  Hellen ism.  The  Hellenistic  ^ 
world  reached  from  the  Adriatic  to  the  Indus,  and  consisted 
of:  (1)  three  great  kingdoms,  Syria,  Egypt,  and  Macedonia; 
(2)  a  broken  chain  of  smaller  monarchies  scattered  from  Media 
to  Epirus"^  (some  of  them,  like  Pontus  and  Armenia,  under 
dynasties  descended  from  Persian  princes; ;  and  (3)  single  free 
cities  like  Bi/zantinm.  Some  of  these  free  cities  united  into 
leagues,  which  sometimes  became  great  military  powers  —  like 
one  famous  confederation  under  the  leadership  of  lihodes. 

289.  Resemblance  to  Modern  Europe.  —  Politically  in  numy 
icays  all  tlie  vast  district  bore  a  striking  resemblance  to  modern 
Europe.  There  was  a  like  division  into  great  and  small  states, 
ruled  by  dynasties  related  by  intermarriages  ;  there  was  a  com- 
mon  civilization,  and   a  recognition  of  common  interests   as 

1  IlfVe.nic  refers  to  the  old  Hellas;  Hellenistic,  to  the  wider  world,  of  mixed 
Hellenic  and  Oriental  character,  after  Alexander. 

-There  is  a  full  enumeration  in  Mahaffy's  Al> /under's  Emiiirr,  !)0-;i'_'. 

•J73 


274 


THE   GRAECO-ORIENTAL  WORLD 


[§290 


against  outside  barbarism  or  as  opposed  to  any  non-Hellenic 
power,  like  Home ;  and  there  were  jealousies  and  conflicts  similar 
to  those  in  Euro])e  in  recent  centuries.  There  were  shifting 
alliances,  and  many  wars  to  preserve  "  the  balance  of  power  " 
or  to  secure  trade  advantages.  There  was  a  likeness  to  modern 
society,  too,  as  we  shall  see  more  fully  later,  in  the  refinement 
of  the  age,  in  its  excellences  and  its  vices,  the  great  learning, 


The  Dying  Gaul. 
Sometimes  incorrectly  called  the  Dying  Gladiator. 


the  increase  in  skill  and  in  criticism.  (Of  course  the  age  was 
vai^'  ly  inferior  to  that  of  modern  Europe.) 

290.  The  Invasion  by  the  Gauls.  —  It  follows  that  the  history 
of  the  third  century  is  a  history  of  many  separate  countries 
(§§  292  If.),  but  there  was  one  event  of  general  interest.  This 
was  the  great  Gallic  invasion  of  278  k.c.  It  was  the  first 
formidable  barbarian  attack  upon  the  Eastern  Avorld  since  the 
Scythians  had  been  chastised  by  the  early  Persian  kings  (§  75). 

A  century  before,  hordes  of  tliese  same  Gauls  had  devastated 
northern  Italy  and  sacked  the  rising  city  of  Eome.  Xow 
(fortunately  not  until  the  ruinous  Wars  of  the  Succession  were 


§  292]  SYRIA  275 

over)  they  poured  into  exhausted  Macedonia,  penetrated  into 
Greece  as  far  as  Delphi,  and,  after  horrible  ravages  there,  car- 
ried havoc  into  Asia.  For  a  long  period  every  great  sovereign 
of  the  Hellenic  world  turned  his  arms  upon  them,  until  they 
were  finally  settled  as  peaceful  colonists  in  a  region  of  Asia 
Minor,  which  took  the  name  Galatia  from  these  new  inhabitants. 
Perhaps  we  are  most  interested  in  noting  that  the  Hellenistic 
juitriotism  roused  by  the  attack — like  that  in  little  Hellas 
two  hundred  years  earlier  by  the  Persian  invasions  (§  187)  — 
l)layed  a  part  in  a  splendid  ovitburst  of  art  and  literature  which 
followed.  The  Dyiixj  Gaul  and  the  Apollo  Bdi'idere,^  among 
the  noblest  surviving  works  of  the  period,  commemorate  inci- 
dents in  the  struggle. 

291.  Decline  of  the  Hell«ic  World.  —  About  220,  the  wide- 
spread Hellftaistic  world  began  a  rapid  decline.  In  that  one 
year  the  thrones  of  Syria,  Egypt,  and  Macedonia  fell  to  youth- 
ful heirs ;  and  all  three  of  these  new  monarchs  showed  a 
degeneracy  which  is  common  in  Oriental  ruling  families  after 
a  few  generations  of  greatness.  Jnst  before  this  year,  as  we 
shall  see  (§  310),  the  last  promise  of  independence  in  Greece 
itself  had  flickered  out.  Just  after  it,  there  began  an  attack 
from  Rome,  which  was  finally  to  absorb  this  Hellenistic  East 
into  a  still  larger  world.  • 

Before  turning  to  the  growth  of  Rome,  however,  we  will  note  (i )  the 
history,  in  brief,  of  the  leading  Hellenic  states  from  Alexander  to  the 
Roman  sway ;  (a)  with  more  detail,  an  interesting  attempt  at  federal 
government  in  Greece  itself  ;  and  (3  1  the  character  of  Hellenistic  cuicw.re 
in  this  period. 

SOME   SINGLE   EASTERN   STATES    IN   OUTLINE 

292.  Syria  was  the  largest  of  the  great  monarchies.  It  com- 
prised most  of  Alexander's  empire    in  Asia,  except  the  small 

1  The  Gauls  made  a  raid  upon  the  Temple  of  Apollo  at  Delphi,  but  in  some 
way  were  routed  in  disorder.  The  legend  arose  that  Apollo  himself  drove 
them  away  with  a  thunderbolt.  The  statue,  the  Apolto  Belridere,  is  sup- 
posed to  represent  the  god  in  the  act  of  defending  his  temple. 


276 


TTIK   C!HAE(H)  ORIFATAL   WORLD 


f§  292 


states  in  Asia  Minor.  In  lli<-  Wars  of  tlic  Snooession,  it  fell 
to  Selciicv.s,  ow  oF  tlie  M;u'c(lonian  i^'f^ncrals ;  and  his  descend- 
ants   (Sel(Mici(la(V)    rulfMl    it    to    tin;    lionian     conquest.     They 


Pylon  of  Ptolemy  III  at  Karnak.  The  reliefs  represent  that  conqueror 
in  religious  thanksgiving,  sacrificing,  praying,  offering  trophies  to  the  gods. 
At  the  top  is  the  "conventionalized  "  winged  sundisk.  Cf.  page  36.  Note 
the  general  likeness  to  the  older  Egyptian  architecture. 

excelled  all  other  successors  of  Alexander  in  building  cities 
and  extending  Greek  culture  over  distant  regions.  Seleucus 
alone  founded  seventy-five  cities. 


§  294]  EGYPT  277 

About  250  B.C.  Indian  princes  reconquered  the  Piinjab,  and 
the  Parthians  arose  on  the  northeast,  to  cut  off  the  J^actrian 
provinces  from  the  rest  of  the  Greek  workl.  Thus  Syria 
shrank  to  the  area  of  the  ancient  Assyrian  Enipire, — the 
Euphrates-Tigris  basin  and  okl  Syria  proper,  —  but  it  was  still, 
in  common  opinion,  the  greatest  world-power,  until  its  might 
was  shattered  by  Rome  in  190  b.c.  at  MagneskhU^ 

293.  Egypt  included  Cyprus,  and  possessed  a  vague  control 
over  many  coast  towns  of  Syria  and  Asia  Minor.  Immedi- 
ately upon  Alexander's  death,  one  of  his  generals,  Ptolemy, 
chose  Egypt  for  his  province.  His  descendants,  all  known  as 
Ptolemies,  ruled  the  land  until  Cleopatra  yielded  to  Augustus 
Caesar  (30  b.c),  though  it  had  become  a  Roman  protectorate^ 
somewhat  before  that  time. 

The  early  Ptolemies  were  wise,  energetic  sovereigns.  They 
aimed  to  make  Egypt  the  commercial  emporium  of  the  world, 
and  to  make  their  capital,  Alexandria,  tlie  world's  intellectual 
center.  Ptolemy  I  established  a  great  naval  power,  improved 
harbors,  and  built  the  first  lighthouse.  Ptolemy  II  (better 
known  as  Ptolemy  Philadelphus)  restored  the  old  canal  from 
the  Red  Sea  to  the  Nile  (§§  28,  32),  constructed  roads,  and 
fostered  learning  more  than  any  great  ruler  before  him  (§  319). 
Ptolemy  III,  in  war  with  Syria,  carried  his  arms  to  Bactria, 
and  on  his  return  mapped  the  coast  of  Arabia.  Unlike  earlier 
conquerors,  he  made  no  attempt  to  add  territory  to  his  realm 
by  his  victories,  but  only  to  secure  trade  advantages  and  a 
satisfactory  peace.  The  later  Ptolemies  were  weaklings  or 
infamous  monsters,  guilty  of  every  folly  and  crime ;  but  even 
they  continued  to  encourage  learning. 

294.  Macedonia  ceased  to  be  of  great  interest  after  the  death 
of  Alexander,  except  from  a  military  point  of  view.  Its  posi- 
tion made  it  the  first  part  of  the  Greek  world  to  come  into 
hostile  contact  with  Rome.  King  Philip  V  joined  Carthage 
in    a    war    against    Rome,  a   little    before  the  year  200   b.c. 

1  That  is,  Rome  had  come  to  control  all  the  relations  of  Egypt  with  foreign 
countries,  althonj^h  its  government  continued  in  name  to  be  independent. 


27<S  TTIK   flRAECO-ORIENTAL  WORLD  (§295 

A  series  of  struggles  resulted ;  and  Macedonia,  with  parts  of 
Greece,  bt^cainc  llo]nan  in  IK)  h.c. 

295.  Rhodes  and  Pergamum.  —  Among  the  many  small  states, 
two  deserve  special  mention.  Rhodes  headed  a  confederacy 
of  cities  in  the  Aegean,  and  in  the  third  centui-y  she  became 
the  leading  commercial  state  of  the  Mediterranean.  Her  policy 
was  one  of  ))eace  and  freedom  of"  trade.  Penjamum  was  a  small 
(xreek  kingdom  in  Asia  Minor,  whicli  the  genius  of  its  rulers 
(the  Attalids)  made  prominent  in  politics  and  art.  When  the 
struggles  with  Rome  began,  Pergamum  allied  itself  with  that 
power,  and  long  remained  a  favored  state. 

THE  ACHAEAN  LEAGUE  IN  GREECE 

296.  The  Political  Situation.  —  During  the  ruinous  Wars  of 
the  Succession,  Greece  had  been  a  favorite  battleground  for 
the  great  powers,  Egypt,  Syria,  and  Macedonia.  Many  cities 
were  laid  waste,  and  at  the  close  of  the  contests,  the  country 
was  left  a  vassal  of  Macedonia.  To  make  her  hold  firmer, 
Macedonia  set  w^  tyrants  in  many  cities.  From  this  humilia- 
tion, Greece  was  lifted  for  a  time  by  a  new  power,  the  Achaean 
League,  which  made  a  last  effort  for  the  freedom  of  Hellas. 

297.  Earlier  Confederations.  —  In  early  times,  in  the  more 
backward  parts  of  Greece,  there  had  been  many  rude  federa- 
tions of  tribes,  as  among  the  Phocians  and  Locrians ;  but  in 
city-Greece  no  such  union  had  long  survived. 

The  failure  of  the  Confederacy  of  Delos  has  been  told.  During  the 
supremacy  of  Sparta  (about  400  b.c.)  another  still  more  interesting  federal 
union  appeared  for  a  brief  time  on  the  northern  coast  of  the  Aegean. 
Olynthus,  a  leading  Greek  city  in  the  Chalcidic  district,  built  up  a  con- 
federacy of  forty  states,  to  check  the  Thracian  and  Macedonian  barbarians, 
who  had  begun  to  stir  themselves  after  the  fall  of  the  Athenian  power. 
This  league  is  called  the  Ohjnthian  Confederacy.  Its  cities  kept  their 
local  independence  ;  but  they  were  merged,  upon  equal  terms,  into  a  large 
state  more  perfect  than  any  preceding  federal  union.  The  citizens  of  any 
one  city  could  intermarry  toith  those  of  any  other,  and  they  could  dwell 
and  acquire  landed  property  anywhere  within  the  league;  while  no  one 
city  had  superior  privileges  over  the  others,  as  Athens  had  had  in  the 


§299]  THE  ACHAEAN   LEAGUE  279 

Delian  League.     After  only  a  short  life,  as  we  have  seen,  this  promising 
union  was  crushed  ruthlessly  by  jealous  Sparta  (§  261). 

298.  Aetolian  League.  —  Now,  after  280  b.c,  two  of  the  an- 
cient tribal  federations  which  liad  survived  in  obscure  corners 
of  Greece  —  Achaea  and  Aetolia  —  began  to  play  leading  parts 
in  history. 

Of  these  two,  the  Aetolian  League  was  the  less  important. 
Originally  it  seems  to  have  been  a  loose  union  of  mountain 
districts  for  defense.  But  the  Wars  of  the  Succession  made 
the  Aetolians  famous  as  bold  soldiers  of  fortune,  and  the 
wealth  brought  home  by  the  thousands  of  such  adventurers 
led  to  a  more  aggressive  policy  on  the  part  of  the  league.  The 
people  remained,  however,  rude  mountaineers,  "  brave,  boast- 
fid,  rapacious,  and  utterly  reckless  of  the  rights  of  others." 
They  played  a  part  in  saving  southern  Greece  from  the  invad- 
ing Gauls  (§  290),  but  tlieir  confederacy  became  more  and 
more  an  organization  for  lawless  plunder. 

299.  Achaean  League :  Origin.  —  In  Achaea  there  was  a  nobler 
history.  A  league  of  small  towns  grew  into  a  formidable 
power,  freed  most  of  Greece,  brought  much  of  it  into  a  federal 
union,  with  all  members  on  equal  terms,  and  for  a  glorious 
half  century  maintained  Greek  freedom  successfully. 

The  story  offers  curious  contrasts  to  the  period  of  Athenian  leadership 
two  hundred  years  earlier.  Greece  could  no  longer  hope  to  become  one 
of  the  great  military  powers :  we  miss  the  intellectual  brilliancy,  too.  of 
the  fifth  century :  but  the  period  affords  even  more  instructive  political 
lessons  —  especially  to  Americans,  interested,  as  we  are.  in  federal  in- 
stitutions. The  most  important  political  matter  in  Greek  history  in 
the  third  century  B.C.  is  this  experiment  in  federal  government. 

The  people  of  Achaea  were  uuwarlike,  and  not  very  enter- 
prising or  intellectual.  In  all  Greek  history  they  produced 
no  great  writer  or  great  artist.  They  did  m)t  even  furnish 
great  statesmen,  —  for  all  the  heroes  of  tlie  league  were  to 
come  from  outside  Achaea  itself.  Still,  the  Achaean  League 
is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  federations  in  history  before 
the  adoption  of  the  present  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 


280  THE   ORAECO-ORIENTAL  WORLD  [§300 

We  know  that  there  was  some  kind  of  a  confederation  in 
Achaea  as  early  as  the  Persian  War.  Under  the  Macedonian 
rule,  the  league  was  destroyed  and  tyrants  were  set  up  in 
several  of  the  ten  Achaean  cities.  But,  about  280  b.c,  four 
small  towns  revived  the  ancient  confederacy.  This  union 
swiftly  drove  out  the  tyrants  from  the  neighboring  towns,  and 
absorbed  all  Achaea.  One  generous  incident  belongs  to  this 
part  of  the  story :  Iseas,  tyrant  of  Cerynea,  voluntarily  gave 
up  his  power  and  brought  his  city  into  the  league. 

So  far  Macedonia  had  not  interfered.  The  Gallic  invasion 
just  at  this  time  spread  ruin  over  all  the  north  of  Hellas, 
and  probably  prevented  hostile  action  by  the  Macedonian 
king.     Thus  the  federation  became  securely  established. 

300.  Government.  —  During  this  period  the  constitution  was 
formed.  The  chief  authority  of  the  league  was  placed  in  a 
Federal  Assembly.  This  was  not  a  reiwesentative  body,  but  a 
mass  meeting:  it  was  made  up  of  all  citizens  of  the  league 
who  chose  to  attend.  To  prevent  the  city  where  the  meeting 
was  held  from  outweighing  the  others,  each  city  was  given 
only  one  vote.  That  is,  ten  or  twelve  men  —  or  even  one  man 
—  from  a  distant  town  cast  the  vote  of  that  city,  and  counted 
just  as  much  as  several  hundred  from  a  city  nearer  the  place 
of  meeting.  The  Assembly  was  held  twice  a  year,  for  only 
three  days  at  a  time,  and  in  some  small  city,  so  that  a  great 
capital  should  not  overshadow  the  rest  of  the  league.  It  chose 
yearly  a  Council  of  Ten,  a  Senate,  and  a  General  (or  president), 
with  various  subordinate  officers.  The  same  General  could  not 
be  chosen  two  years  in  succession. 

This  government  raised  federal  taxes  and  armies,  and  rep- 
resented the  federation  in  all  foreign  relations.  Each  city 
remained  a  distinct  state,  with  full  control  over  all  its  internal 
matters  —  but  no  city  of  itself  could  make  peace  or  war,  enter 
into  alliances,  or  send  ambassadors  to  another  state.  That  is, 
the  Achaean  League  was  a  true  federation,  and  not  a  mere 
alliance ;  and  its  cities  corresponded  closely  to  the  American 
States  under  our  old  Articles  of  Confederation. 


§302]  THE   ACHAEAN   LEAGUE  *      281 

301.  Faults  in  the  Government.  —  In  theory,  the  constitution 
was  extremely  democratic  :  in  practice,  it  proved  otherwise. 
Men  attended  the  Assembly  at  their  own  expense.  Any 
Achaean  might  come,  but  only  the  wealthy  could  afford  to  do  so, 
as  a  regular  thing.  Moreover,  since  the  meetings  of  the  As- 
sembly Avere  few  and  brief,  great  authority  had  to  be  left  to 
the  General  and  Council.  Any  Achaean  was  eligible  to  these 
offices ;  but  poor  men  could  hardly  afford  to  take  them,  because 
they  had  no  salaries.  The  Greek  system  of  a  primary  assembly 
ivas  suited  only  to  single  cities.  A  j/rimary  assembly  made  the 
city  of  Athens  a  perfect  democracy :  the  same  institution  made 
the  Achaean  League  intensely  aristocratic. 

The  constitution  was  an  advance  over  all  other  Greek  federa- 
tions, but  it  had  two  other  faults.  (1)  It  made  little  use  of 
representation,  which  no  doubt  would  have  seemed  to  the 
Achaeans  undemocratic  (§  12S),  but  Avhich  in  practice  would 
have  enabled  a  larger  part  of  the  citizens  to  have  a  voice  in 
the  government;  and  (2)  all  cities,  great  or  small,  had  the 
same  vote. 

This  last  did  not  matter  much  at  first,  for  the  little  Achaean 
towns  did  not  differ  greatly  in  size ;  but  it  became  a  plain 
injiistice  when  the  union  came  later  to  contain  some  of  the 
most  powerful  cities  in  Greece.  However,  this  feature  was 
almost  universal  in  early  confederacies,^  and  it  was  the  prin- 
ciple of  the  American  Union  until  1789. 

302.  First  Expansion  beyond  Achaea.  —  The  power  of  the  Gen- 
eral was  so  great  that  the  history  of  the  league  is  the  biog- 
raphy of  a  few  great   men.     The   most  remarkable  of  these 

1  The  one  exception  was  the  Lycian  Confederacy  in  Asia  Minor.  The 
Lycians  were  not  Greeks,  apparently ;  but  they  had  taken  on  some  Greek 
culture,  and  their  federal  union  was  an  advance  even  upon  the  Achaean. 
It  was  absorbed  by  Rome,  however,  in  54  a.d.,  before  it  played  an  important 
part  in  history.  In  its  Assembly,  the  vote  was  taken  by  cities,  but  the  cities 
ivere  divided  into  three  classes :  the  largest  had  three  votes  each ,  the  next  class 
two  each,  and  the  smallest  only  one.  In  the  Philadelphia  Convention,  in  1787, 
several  American  statesmen  wished  to  adopt  this  Lycian  plan  for  our  States 
in  the  Federal  Congress. 


282      -  THE   ORAECO-ORTENTAL  WORLD  [5  303 

leaders  was  Aratus  of  Sicyoii.  Sicyoii  was  a  city  just  outside 
Acliaea,  to  tlie  east.  It  liad  hv.eu  ruled  hy  a  vil(!  and  l)loody 
tyrant,  who  diove  many  leading  citizens  into  exile.  Among 
these  exiles  was  the  family  of  Aratus.  When  a  youth  of 
twenty  years  (251  h.c.)  Aratus  planned,  by  a  night  attack, 
to  overthrow  the  tyrant  and  free  his  native  city.  The  daring 
venture  was  brilliantly  successful ;  but  it  aro\ised  the  hatred 
of  Macedon,  and,  to  preserve  the  freedom  so  nobly  won, 
Aratus  brought  Sicyon  into  the  Achaean  federation. 

303.  Aratus.'  —  Five  years  later,  Aratus  was  elected  Gen- 
eral of  the  league,  and  thereafter,  he  held  that  office  each 
alternate  year  (as  often  as  the  constitution  permitted)  until 
his  death,  thirty-two  years  later. 

Aratus  hated  tyrants,  and  longed  for  a  free  and  united 
Greece.  He  extended  the  league  far  beyond  the  borders  of 
Achaea,  and  made  it  a  champion  of  Hellenic  freedom.  He 
aimed  at  a  noble  end,  but  did  not  refuse  base  means.  He  was 
incorruptible  himself,  and  he  lavished  his  vast  wealth  on  the 
union ;  but  he  was  bitterly  jealous  of  other  leaders.  With 
plenty  of  daring  in  a  dashing  project,  as  he  many  times  proved, 
he  lacked  nerve  to  command  in  battle,  and  he  never  won  a  real 
victory  in  the  field.  Still,  despite  his  many  defeats,  his  per- 
suasive power  and  his  merits  kept  him  the  confidence  of  the 
union  to  the  end  of  a  long  public  life. 

304.  Growth  of  the  League ;  Lydiadas.  —  In  his  second  gen- 
eralship, Aratus  freed  Corinth  from  her  Macedonian  tyrant  by 
a  desperate  night  attack  upon  the  garrison  of  the  citadel. 
That  powerful  city  then  entered  the  union.  So  did  Megara, 
which  itself  drove  out  its  Macedonian  garrison.  The  league 
now  commanded  the  isthmus,  and  was  safe  from  attack  by 
Macedonia.  Then  several  cities  in  Arcadia  joined,  and,  in 
234,  Megalopolis  (§  265)  was  added,  —  at  that  time  one  of  the 
leading  cities  in  Greece. 

1  Aratus  is  the  first  statesman  known  to  us  from  his  own  memoirs.  That 
work  itself  uo  longer  exists,  but  Plutarch  drew  upon  it  for  his  Life,  as  did 
Polybius  for  his  History. 


§  30.5) 


THE   ACHAEAN   LEAGUE 


283 


Some  years  earlier  the  government  of  Megalopolis  had  be- 
come a  tyranny  :  Lydia/kis,  a  gallant  and  enthusiastic  youth, 
seized  despotic  power,  meaning  to  use  it  for  good  ends.^  The 
growth  of  the  Achaean  League  opened  a  nobler  way  :  Lydiadas 
resigned  his  tyranny,  and  as  a  private  citizen  brought  the  Great 
City  into  the  union.  This  act  made  him  a  popular  hero,  and 
Aratus    became   his 


bitter  foe.  The  new 
leader  was  the  more 
lovable  figure,  —  gen- 
erous and  ardent,  a 
soldier  as  well  as  a 
statesman.  Several 
times  he  became  Gen- 
eral of  the  league,  but 
even  in  office  he  was 
often  thwarted  by  the 
disgraceful  trickery  of 
the  older  man. 

305.  The  Freeing  of 
Athens  and  Argos.  — 
For  many  years  Ara- 
tus had  aimed  to  free 
Athens  and  Argos  — 
sometimes  by  heroic 
endeavors,  sometimes 
by    assassination   and 

poison.  In  229,  he  succeeded.  He  bought  the  withdrawal  of 
Macedonian  troops  from  the  Piraeus,  and  Athens  became  an 
ally,  though  not  a  member,  of  the  league.^  The  tyrant  of 
Argos  was  persuaded  or  frightened  into  following  the  example 


THEACH-\E.\N  AND  AETOLLVN  LEAGUES, 
ABOUT  225  B.C. 


1  This  was  true  of  several  tyrants  in  this  age,  and  it  was  due  no  douht  in 
part  to  the  new  respect  for  monarcliy  sinee  Alexander's  time,  and  in  part  to 
new  theories  of  government  taught  by  the  philosophers. 

-  TIio  old  historic  cities,  Athens  and  Sparta,  could  not  be  brought  to  look 
favorably  upon  such  a  union. 


284  tup:  graeco-oriental  world  [§306 

of  Iseas  and  Lydiadas,  —  as  liad  liappoiied  meanwhile  in  many 
smaller  cities,  —  and  Ar<(os  joined  tlie  confederacy. 

The  league  now  was  the  commanding  power  in  Hellas.  It 
included  all  Peloponnesus  exce])t  Sparta  and  Elis.  Moreover, 
all  Greece  south  of  Thermopylae  had  become  free,  —  largely 
through  the  influence  of  the  Achaean  league,  —  and  most  of 
the  states  not  inside  the  union  had  at  least  entered  into  friendly 
alliance  with  it.     But  now  came  a  fatal  conflict  with  Sparta. 

306.  Need  of  Social  Reforms  in  Sparta.  —  The  struggle  was 
connected  with  a  great  reform  within  that  ancient  city.  The 
forms  of  the  "  Lycurgan "  constitution  had  survived  through 
many  centuries,  but  now  S})arta  had  only  seven  hundred  full 
citizens  (cf.  §§  254,  263).  This  condition  brought  about  a 
violent  agitation  for  reform.  And  about  the  year  243,  Agis, 
one  of  the  Spartan  kings,  set  himself  to  do  again  what  Lycurgus 
had  done  in  legend. 

307.  Agis  was  a  youthful  hero,  full  of  noble  daring  and  pure 
enthusiasm.  He  gave  his  own  property  to  the  state  and  per- 
suaded his  relatives  and  friends  to  do  the  like.  He  planned 
to  abolish  all  debts,  and  to  divide  the  land  among  forty-five 
hundred  Spartan  '' Inferiors  ".(§  254)  and  fifteen  thousand 
other  Lacouians,  so  as  to  refound  the  state  upon  a  broad  and 
democratic  basis.  Agis  could  easily  have  won  by  violence; 
but  he  refused  such  methods,  and  sought  his  ends  by  con- 
stitutional means  only.  The  conservative  party  rose  in  fierce 
opposition.  By  order  of  the  Ephors,  the  young  king  was 
seized,  with  his  noble  mother  and  grandmother,  and  murdered 
in  prison,  —  "the  purest  and  noblest  spirit  that  ever  perished 
through  deeming  others  as  pure  and  noble  as  himself." 

308.  Cleomenes.  —  But  the  ideals  of  the  martyr  lived  on. 
His  wife  was  forced  to  marry  Cleomenes,  son  of  the  other  king ; 
and, /rom  her,  this  prince  adopted  the  hopes  of  Agis.  Cleomenes 
became  king  in  236.  He  had  less  of  high  sensitiveness  and  of 
stainless  honor  than  Agis,  but  he  is  a  grand  and  colossal 
figure.  He  bided  his  time ;  and  then,  when  the  Ephors  were 
planning  to  use  force  against  him,  he  struck  first. 


§310]  THE  ACHAEAN   LEAGUE  285 

Aratus  had  led  the  Achaean  League  into  war '  with  Sparta 
in  Older  to  unite  all  the  Peloponnesus  ;  but  the  military  genius 
of  Cleomenes  made  even  enfeebled  Sparta  a  match  for  the 
great  league.  He  won  two  great  victories.  Then,  the  league 
being  helpless  for  the  moment,  he  used  his  popularity  to  secure 
reform  in  Sparta.  The  oligarchs  were  plotting  against  him, 
but  he  was  enthusiastically  supported  by  the  disfranchised 
multitudes.  Leaving  his  Spartan  troops  at  a  distance,  he 
hurried  to  the  city  by  forced  marches  with  some  chosen 
followers.  There  he  seized  and  slew  the  Ephors,  and  pro- 
claimed a  new  constitution,  which  contained  the  reforms  of 
Agis. 

309.  Sparta  Victorious  over  the  League.  —  Cleomenes  designed 
to  make  this  new  Sparta  the  head  of  the  Peloponnesus.  He 
and  Aratus  each  desired  a  free,  united  Greece,  but  under 
different  leadership.  Moreover,  Sparta  now  stood  forth  the 
advocate  of  a  kind  of  socialism,  and  so  was  particularly  hate- 
ful to  the  aristocratic  government  of  the  league. 

The  struggle  between  the  two  powers  was  renewed  with 
fresh  bitterness.  Cleomenes  won  more  victories,  and  then, 
with  the  league  at  his  feet,  he  offered  generous  terms.  He 
demanded  that  Sparta  be  admitted  to  the  union  as  virtual 
leader.  This  would  have  created  the  greatest  power  ever  seen 
in  Greece,  and,  for  the  time,  it  would  have  made  a  free  Hellas 
sure.  The  Achaeans  were  generally  in  favor  of  accepting  the 
proposal;  but  Aratus  —  jealous  of  Cleomenes  and  fearful  of 
social  reform  —  broke  off  the  negotiations  by  underhanded 
methods. 

310.  Aratus  calls  in  Macedon.  —  Then  Aratus  bought  the  aid 
of  JNlacedon  against  Sparta,  by  betraying  Corinth,  a  free  member 
of  the  league  and  the  city  connected  with  his  own  most 
glorious  exploit.  As  a  result,  the  federation  became  a  protector- 
ate of  Macedonia,  holding  no  relations  with  foreign  states 
except  through  that  power.     The  war  now  became  a  struggle 

1  In  a  battle  in  tliis  war  Aratus  held  back  the  Achaean  i)halanx,  while 
Lydiadas,  heading  a  gallant  charge,  was  overpowered  by  numbers. 


286  THE  GRAECO-ORIENTAL  WORLD  (§311 

for  Greek  freedom,  waged  by  Sparta  under  her  hero  king 
against  the  overwlielniing  power  of  Macedon  assisted  by  the 
confederacy  as  a  vassal  state.  Aratus  had  undone  his  own 
great  work. 

The  date  (222  b.c.)  coincides  with  the  general  decline  of  the 
Hellenic  world  (§  291).  For  a  while,  Sparta  showed  surprising 
vigor,  and  Cleomenes  was  marvelously  successful.  The  league 
indeed  dwindled  to  a  handful  of  petty  cities.  But  in  the  end 
Macedonia  prevailed.  Cleomenes  fled  to  Egypt,  to  die  in 
exile ;  and  Sparta  opened  her  gates  for  the  first  time  to  a  con- 
quering army.  The  league  was  restored  to  its  old  extent,  but 
its  glory  was  gone.  It  still  served  a  useful  purpose  in  keeping 
peace  and  order  over  a  large  part  of  Peloponnesus,  but  it  was 
no  longer  the  champion  of  a  free  Hellas. 

311.  Final  Decline.  —  Soon  after,  war  followed  between 
Achaea  and  Aetolia.  This  contest  became  a  struggle  between 
Macedonia  and  her  vassals  on  the  one  side,  and  Aetolia  aided 
by  Rome  on  the  other;  for  as  Achaea  had  called  in  Macedonia 
against  Sparta,  so  now  Aetolia  called  in  Rome  against  Achaea 
and  Macedonia,  —  and  Greek  history  closed. 

Some  gleams  of  glory  shine  out  at  the  last  in  the  career  of 
Philopoemen  of  Megalopolis,  the  greatest  general  the  Achaean 
League  ever  produced,  and  one  of  the  noblest  characters  in 
history ;  but  the  doom  of  Achaea  was  already  sealed.  "  Philo- 
poemen," says  Freeman,  "  was  one  of  the  heroes  who  struggle 
against  fate,  and  who  are  allowed  to  do  no  more  than  to  stave 
off  a  destruction  which  it  is  beyond  their  power  to  avert." 
These  words  are  a  fitting  epitaph  for  the  great  league  itself. 

HELL       IS^  SOCIETY  -^ 

312.  General  Culture.  —  From  280  to  150  b.c.  was  the  period 
of  chief  splendor  for  the  new,  widespread  Hellenism.  It  was 
a  great  and  fruitful  age.  Society  was  refined  ;  the  position  of 
woman  improved ;  private  fortunes  abounded,  and  private 
houses  possessed  Avorks  of  art  which,  in  earlier  times,  would 
have  been  found  only  in  palaces  or  temples.     For  the  reverse 


§  314]  LITERATURE  287 

side,  there  was  corruption  in  high  places,  and  hungry  and 
threatening  mobs  at  the  base  of  society. 

Among-the  countless  cities,  all  homes  of  culture,  five  great 
intellectual  centers  appeared  —  Athens,  Alexandria,  Rhodes, 
Pergamos,  Antioch.  The  glory  of  Alexandria  extended  over 
the  whole  period,  which  is  sometimes  known  as  the  Alexan- 
drian age;  the  others  held  a  special  preeminence,  one  at  one 
time,  one  at  another.  Athens,  however,  always  excelled  in 
philosophy,  and  Rhodes  in  oratory.^ 

313.  Literature.  —  The  many-sided  age  produced  new  forms 
in  art  and  literature :  especially,  (1)  the  2yrose  romance,  a  story 
of  love  and  adventure,  the  forerunner  of  the  modern  novel ; 
(2)  the  pastoral  poetry  of  TJieocritus,  which  was  to  influence 
Virgil  and  Tennyson ;  and  (3)  personal  memoirs.  The  old 
Attic  comedy,  too,  became  the  "  New  Comedy "  of  Menander 
and  his  followers,  devoted  to  satirizing  gently  the  life  and 
manners  of  the  time. 

In  general,  no  doubt,  the  tendency  in  literature  was  toward 
critical  scholarship  rather  than  toward  great  and  fresh  crea- 
tion. Floods  of  books  appeared,  more  notable  for  style  than 
matter.  Treatises  on  literary  criticism  abounded ;  the  science 
of  grammar  was  developed ;  and  poets  prided  themselves  upon 
writing  all  kinds  of  verse  equally  well.  Intellectually,  in  its 
faults,  as  in  its  virtues,  the  time  strikingly  resembles  our  own. 

314.  Painting  and  Sculpture.  —  Painting  gained  prominence. 
Zeuxis,  Parrhashis,  and  Apelles  are  the  most  famous  Greek 
names  connected  with  this  art,  which  was  now  carried  to  great 
perfection.  According  to  popular  stories,  Zeuxis  painted  a 
cluster  of  grapes  so  that  birds  pecked  at  them,  while  Apelles 
painted  a  horse  so  that  real  horses  neighed  at  the  sight. 

Despite  the  attention  given  to  painting,  Greek  sculpture 
produced  some  of  its  greatest  work  in  this  period.  Multitudes 
of  splendid  statues  were  created  —  so  abundantly,  indeed,  that 
even  the  names  of  the  artists  are  not  preserved.  Among  the 
famous  pieces  that  survive,  besides  the  Dying  Gaul  and  the 

1  Caesar  aud  Cicero  studied  oratory  at  Rhodes. 


288 


THE    ORAECO-ORIENTAL  WORLD 


[§  315 


AjmUo  Belvidere  (§  290),  are  the  Vemm  of  Milo  (Melosj  and 
the  Laocofni  <<;r(m\). 


Venus  of  Melos.  —  A  statue  now  in  the  Louvre. 


315.  Greek  philosophy  after  Socrates  had  three  distinct 
periods,  corresponding  to  the  three  chief  divisions  of  remain- 
ing Greek  history. 


§  316]  LITERATURE  289 

{For  the  period  of  Spartan  and  Theban  leadership.)  The 
most  famous  disciple  of  Socrates  is  known  to  the  world  by  his 
nickname  Plato,  the  "  broad-browed."  His  name,  and  that  of 
his  pupil  and  rival,  Aristotle,  of  the  next  period,  are  among 
the  greatest  in  the  history  of  ancient  thought,  —  among  the 
very  greatest,  indeed,  in  all  time.  Plato  taught  that  things 
are  merely  the  shadows  of  ideas,  and  that  ideas  alone  are  real. 
But  this  statement  gives  a  very  imperfect  picture  of  his  beau- 
tiful and  mystical  philosophy  —  which  is  altogether  too  com- 
plex to  treat  here. 

(For  the  Macedonian  period.)  Aristotle,  on  the  other  hand, 
cared  more  about  tilings.  Besides  his  philosophical  treatises, 
he  wrote  upon  rhetoric,  logic,  poetry,  politics,  physics  and 
chemistry,  and  natural  history ;  and  he  built  up  all  the  knowl- 
edge gathered  by  the  ancient  world  into  one  complete  system. 
For  the  intellectual  world  of  his  day  he  worked  a  task  not 
unlike  that  of  his  pupil  Alexander  in  the  political  world. 
More  than  any  other  of  the  ancients,  too,  he  was  many-sided 
and  modern  in  his  way  of  thinking  (cf.  also  §§  285,  320). 

(For  the  period  after  Alexander.)  During  the  Wars  of  the 
Succession,  two  new  philosophical  systems  were  born, — 
Epicnreanism  and  Stoicism.  Each  called  itself  highly  "prac- 
tical." Neither  asked,  as  older  philosophies  had  done,  "  what 
is  true  ?  "  Stoicism  asked  (in  a  sense  following  Socrates),  — 
"What  is  right?  "  and  Epicureanism  asked  merely,  "What 
is  expedient?"  One  sought  virtue;  the  other,  happiness. 
Neither  sought  knowledge.  These  two  "  schools "  need  a 
somewhat  fuller  treatment  (§§  ol6-318). 

316.  Epicurus  was  an  Athenian  citizen.  He  taught  that 
every  man  must  pursue  happiness  as  an  end,  but  that  the  highest 
pleasure  was  to  be  obtained  by  a  wase  choice  of  the  refined 
pleasures  of  the  mind  and  of  friendship,  —  not  by  gratifying 
the  lower  appetites.  He  advised  temperance  and  virtue  as 
means  to  happiness  ;  and  he  himself  lived  a  frugal. life,  saying 
that  with  a  crust  of  bread  and  a  cup  of  cold  water  he  could 
rival  Zeus  in  happiness.     Under  cover  of  his  theories,  however, 


290 


THE   GRAECO-ORIENTAL  WORLD 


(§316 


some  of  his  followers  taught  and  ])racticed  a  grossness  which 

Ei)iciinis  liiiiisflf  would  liavc  f';ii-nf'stly  condeniiied. 


The  LaocoGn*  Group. 
A  represeutation  in  marble  of  an  incident  in  the  story  of  the  fall  of  Troy. 

The  Epicureans  denied  the  supernatural  altogether,  and  held 
death  to  be  the  end  of  all  things.  Epicureanism  produced  some 
lovable  characters,  but  no  exalted  ones. 


§  319]  PHILOSOPHY  291 

317.  Zeno  the  Stoic  '  also  taught  at  Athens.  His  followers 
made  virtue,  not  happiness,  the  end  of  life.  If  happiness  were 
to  come  at  all,  it  would  come,  they  said,  as  a  result,  not  as  an 
end.  They  placed  emphasis  upon  the  dignity  of  human  nature  : 
the  wise  man  should  be  sujDerior  to  the  accidents  of  fortune. 

The  Stoics  believed  in  the  gods  as  manifestations  of  one 
Divine  Providence  that  ordered  all  things  well.  The  noblest 
characters  of  the  Greek  and  Roman  world  from  this  time  be- 
longed to  this  sect.  Stoicism  was  inclined,  however,  to  ignore 
the  gentler  and  kindlier  side  of  human  life ;  and  with  bitter 
natures  it  merged  into  the  philosophy  of  the  Cynics,  of  whom 
Diogenes,  with  his  tub  and  lantern,  is  the  great  example. - 

318.  New  Importance  of  Philosophy.  —  Both  Stoics  and  Epi- 
cureans held  to  a  wide  brotherhood  of  man.  This  teaching, 
no  doubt,  was  one  result  of  the  union  of  the  world  in  the  new 
Graeco-Oriental  culture.  Such  a  doctrine  would  have  been 
unthinkable  before  the  battle  of  Arbela.  Moreover,  for  the 
educated  classes,  philosophy  now  took  the  place  of  religion  as  a 
guide  to  life.  The  philosophers  were  the  clergy  of  the  next  few 
centuries  much  more  truly  than  the  priests  of  the  temples  were. 

319.  Libraries  and  " Museums "  ("Universities"). — The  clos- 
ing age  of  Hellenistic  history  saw  the  forerunner  of  the  modern 
university.  The  beginning  was  made  at  Athens.  Plato  (§  315), 
by  his  will,  left  his  gardens  and  other  property  to  his  followers, 
organized  in  a  club.  Athenian  law  did  not  recognize  the  right 
of  any  group  of  people  to  hold  property,  unless  it  were  a  re- 
ligious body.  Therefore  this  club  claimed  to  be  organized  for 
the  worship  of  the  Muses,  who  were  the  patrons  of  literature 
and  learning;  and  the  name  Museum  was  given  to  the  institu- 
tion. TJiisivas  thejirst  endowed  academy,  and  the  first  union  of 
teachers  and  learners  into  a  corporation? 


1  Zeno  taught  in  the  painted  porch  {xtoa)  on  the  north  side  of  the  market- 
place: hence  the  name  of  his  philosophy.  See  also  the  description  of  the  map 
of  Athens  on  page  202.  2  Special  report :  the  stories  of  Diogenes. 

*  A  corporation  is  a  body  of  men  recognized  by  the  law  as  a  "  person  "  so 
far  as  property  rights  go. 


292  TTIE    rjRAECO  OlilENTAL    WORLD  [§320 

The  idea  has  never  since  died  out  of  the  world.  The  model 
and  name  were  used  a  little  later  by  the  Ptolemies  at  Alexan- 
dria in  their  Museum.  This  was  a  richly  endowed  institution, 
with  large  numbers  of  students.  It  had  a  great  library  of  over 
half  a  million  volumes  (manuscripts),  with  scribes  to  make 
careful  copies  of  them  and  to  make  their  meaning  more  clear, 
when  necessary,  by  explanatory  notes.  It  had  also  observa- 
tories and  botanical  and  zoological  gardens,  with  collections  of 
rare  plants  and  animals  from  distant  parts  of  the  world.  The 
librarians,  and  the  other  scholars  who  were  gathered  about  the 
instituticm,  devoted  tlieir  lives  to  a  search  for  knowledge  and 
to  teaching ;  and  so  they  corresponded  to  the  faculty  of  a 
modern  university. 

"The  external  appearance  [of  the  Museum]  was  that  of  a  group  of 
buildings  which  served  a  common  purpose  —  temple  of  the  Muses,  library, 
porticoes,  dwellings,  and  a  hall  for  meals,  which  were  taken  together. 
The  inmates  were  a  community  of  scholars  and  poets,  on  whom  the  king 
bestowed  the  honor  and  privilege  of  being  allowed  to  work  at  his  expense 
with  all  imaginable  assistance  ready  to  hand.  .  .  .  The  managing  board 
was  composed  of  priests,  but  the  most  influential  post  was  that  of  libra- 
rian."—  Holm,  History  of  Greece,  IV,  .307. 

One  enterprise,  of  incalculable  "benefit  to  the  later  world,  shows  the 
zeal  of  the  Ptolemies  in  collecting  and  translating  texts.  Alexandria  had 
many  Jews  in  its  population,  but  they  were  coming  to  use  the  Greek 
language.  Philadelphus,  for  their  benefit,  had  the  Hebrew  Scriptures 
translated  into  Greek.  This  is  the  famous  Septuayint  translation,  so 
called  from  the  tradition  that  it  was  the  work  of  seventy  scholars. 

320.  Science  made  greater  strides  than  ever  before  in  an 
equal  length  of  time.  Medicine,  surgery,  botany,  and  mechan- 
ics became  real  sciences  for  the  first  time.  Archimedes  of 
Syracuse  discovered  the  principle  of  the  lever,  and  of  specific 
gravity,  and  constructed  burning  mirrors  and  new  hurling 
engines  which  made  effective  siege  artillery.^  Euclid,  a  Greek 
at  Alexandria,  building  upon  the  old  Egyptian  knowledge,  pro- 
duced the  geometry  which  is  still  taught  in  our  schools  with 

1  See  Davis'  Readings,  Vol.  H,  No.  27. 


320] 


SCIENCE 


293 


little  additi(jn.  Eratosthenes  (born  27G  B.C.),  the  librarian  at 
Alexandria,  wrote  a  systematic  work  on  geography,  invented 
delicate  astronomical  instruments,  and  devised  the  present 
way  of  measuring  the  circumference  of  the  earth  —  with 
results  nearly  correct.  A  little  later,  Aristarchus  taught  tliat 
the  earth  moved  round  the  sun  ;  and  Hijyparchus  calculated 
eclipses,  catalogued  the  stars,  wrote  books  on  astronomy,  and 


^     T     UlE     R     N  o     a     E 


THE  WORLD  ACCORDING  TO  EUATOSTIIKXES 

CTIi£  Latin  niiinis  an'  tukeii  fiDtn  Strabo,  two  ccnturifs  later, 
w)io  closely  follnwed  Eratosthenes.) 


founded  the  science  of  trigonometry.  Aristotle  had  already 
given  all  the  proofs  of  the  sphericity  of  the  earth  that  are 
common  in  our  text-books  now  (except  that  of  actual  circum- 
navigation) and  liad  asserted  that  men  could  probably  reach  Asia 
by  sailing  west  from  Europe. .  The  scientific  s])irit  gave  rise, 
too,  to  actual  voyages  of  exploration  into  many  regions ;  and 
daring  discoverers  brought  back  from  northern  regions  what 
seemed  wild  tales  of  icebergs  gleaming  in  the  cold  aurora  of 
the  polar  skies. 

The  liglithouse  built  by  the  first  Ptolemy  on  the  island  of 
Pharos,  in  the  harV)or  of  Alexandria,  shows  that  the  new 
civilization  had  begun   to  make  practical   use  of   science  to 


204  TTIK   nTlAECO  ORIEXTAL  WORLD  [§321 

advance  huinaii  welfare.  Tlie  tower  rose  •>'2i')  feet  into  the 
air,  and  from  tlie  .summit  a  group  of  polished  reflecting  mirrors 
threw  its  light  at  night  far  out  to  sea.  It  .seemed  to  the  Jew- 
ish citizens  of  Alexandria  to  make  real  once  more  the  old 
Hebrew  story  of  the  Pillar  of  Cloud  by  day  and  of  Fire  by 
night, —  to  guide  wanderers  on  the  wastes  of  waves.  "All 
night,"  said  a  Greek  poet,  "  will  the  sailor,  driving  before  the 
storm,  see  the  fire  gleam  from  its  top." 

321.  The  Greek  contributions  to  our  civilization  cannot  be 
named  and  counted,  as  we  did  those  from  the  preceding 
Oriental  peoples.  Egypt  and  Babylon  gave  us  some  very  im- 
portant outer  features,  —  garments,  if  we  choose  so  to  speak, 
for  the  body  of  our  civilization.  But  the  Greeks  gave  ns  its  soul. 
This  is  the  truth  in  the  noble  sentences  quoted  at  the  head 
of  Greek  history  in  this  volume  (page  95) :  "  We  are  all 
Greeks,"  and  "  There  is  nothing  that  moves  in  the  world  to- 
day that  is  not  Greek  in  origin." 

Because  the  Greek  contributions  are  of  the  spirit,  rather 
than  of  the  body,  they  are  harder  to  describe  in  a  brief  sum- 
mary. One  supreme  thing,  however,  must  be  mentioned.  The 
Greeks  gave  us  the  ideal  of  freedom,  regulated  by  self-control, — 
freedom  in  thought,  in  religion,  and  in  politics. 


References  for  Further  Study.  —  Specially  sucigested :  Davis' 
Headings,  Vol.  I,  Nos.  119-125  (19  pages,  mostly  from  Polybius,  Arrian, 
and  Plutarch,  the  three  Greek  historians  of  that  age). 

Additional:  Plutarch's  Lives  ("Aratus,"  "  Agis,"  "  Cleomenes," 
"  Philopoemen  ") ;  Mahaffy's  Alexander''s  Empire. 

Exercise. — Review  the  various  confederacies, — Peloponnesian,  Da- 
lian, Olynthian,  Achaean,  noting  likenesses  and  contrasts.  Review  the 
period  from  Chaeronea  to  the  death  of  Alexander  by  ''catch  words." 


§  321]  REVIEW   EXERCISES  295 

REVIEW    EXERCISES   ON   PARTS   IT   AND    III 

A.   Fact  Drills  ox  Gkeek  History 

1.  The  class  should  form  a  Tnhle  of  Dates  irradually  as  the  critical 
points  are  reached,  and  should  then  drill  upon  it  until  it  says  itself  as  the 
alphabet  does.  Tlie  followinp;  dates  are  enough  for  this  drill  in  Greek 
history.     The  table  should  be  tilled  out  as  is  done  for  the  first  two  dates. 

776  B.C.  First  recorded  Olympiad  338  b.c. 

4510    ''  Marathon  222    " 

405    "  146    " 

371    " 

2.  Xame  in  order  Jifteeii  battles,  between  776  and  146  b.c,  stating  for 
each  the  parties,  leaders,  result,  and  importance.  (Such  tables  also 
should  be  made  by  der/recs  a.t  the  events  are  reached.) 

3.  Explain  concisely  the  follomnc/  terms  or  names :  Olympiads, 
Ephors,  Mycenaean  Culture.  Olym])ian  Helijiion.  Aniphictyonies,  Sappho. 
(Let  the  class  extend  the  lint  several  fold.) 

B.    ToPJCAL  Review.s 

This  is  a  good  point  at  which  to  review  certain  ''culture  topics,"  — 
i.e.,  agriculture,  industrial  arts,  life  of  rich-and  poor,  philosophy,  litera- 
ture, art,  religion,  science, — tracing  each  separately  from  the  dawn  of 
historj'. 

Make  a  table  showing  the  chief  divisions  of  Greek  history,  with  sub- 
divisions. 


APPENDIX 

A   SELECT   LIST  OF  BOOKS   ON  ANCIENT   HISTORY  FOR 
HIGH  SCHOOLS 

Prehistoric  Cui.turk 

Clodd,  E.,  Story  of  Primitive  Man.     Appleton,  New  York.     .$0.35. 

Star;/  of  the  Alphabet.     Appleton.     §1. 

Dodge,  R.  J.,  Oi,r  Wild  Indians.     Hartford.     $2.50. 

Joly,  N.,  3Ian  before  Metals.     Appleton.     81.75. 

Mason,  0.  T.,  ]V()rna)i''s  Share  in  Primitive  Culttire.     Appleton.     S1.75. 

Starr,  F.,  Some  First  Steps  in  Human  Proyrpss.  Flood  and  Vincent, 
Meadville,  Pa.     >il. 

It  is  not  suggested  that  a  school  library  should  own  all  of  the  above 
works,  until  it  is  well  supplied  in  other  directions.  But  any  of  them 
will  make  entertaining  reading.  For  Fiction,  on  the  same  period, 
the  only  good  attempt  is  Stanley  Waterloo's  Story  of  Ab. 

Oriental  History 

Baikie,  James,   Story  of  the  Pharaohs   (illustrated).     Macmillan,  New 

York.     .32. 
Breasted,  J.  H.,  History  of  the  Ancient  Egyptians.     Scribner,  New  York. 

si. 25. 
The  same  author  has  a  larger,  finely  illustrated  work  covering  the 

same  ground. 

History  of  Egypt.     Scribner,  New  York.     .S5. 

This  is  the  most  recent  and  scholarly  work  in  English  on  Egypt 

(1909).     But  the  smaller  work  is  good  ;  and  Baikie's  Story  (above) 

is  perhaps  more  readable  than  either. 

**  Davis,  William  Stearns,  Beadings  in  Ancient  Histoi-y.  Allyn  and 
Bacon,  Bo.ston.  Two  volumes  :  "  Greece  and  the  East  "  and  "  Rome 
and  the  West."     Each  .^l. 

The  first  volume  contains  sixty  pages  of  "source  material"  on 
Oriental  history,  with  valuable  introductions.     The  Readings  (unless 

297 


208  '  APPENDIX 

bought  by  eacli  student  in  tlie  class)  should  be  present  in  the  library 
in  multiple  copies.  See  Suggestions  for  Reading  on  page  9  of  this 
text. 

Homtnel,  F.,  Civilization  of  the  East  ("Primer").     Macmillan.     §0.40. 

Jackson,  A.  V.  W.,  Zoroaster.     Macmillan.     SI. 50. 

*  Myres,  J.  L.,  Dawn  of  History  (Home  University  Series).     Holt,  New 

York.     il>0.50.     An  admirable  little  book. 

Petrie,  W.  Flinders,  Arts  and  Crafts  of  Ancient  Egypt  (illustrated). 
McClurg,  Chicago.    .$1.75. 

Valuable  for  students  in  industrial  courses,  but  somewhat  techni- 
cal.   Professor  Petrie  is  the  most  famous  Egyptian  explorer  of  our 
times. 
Sayce,  A.  H.,  Assyria:   Its  Princes,   Priests,  and  People   (illustrated). 
Revell,   Chicago.     |1. 

Babylonians  and  Assyrians.     Revel],  (,'hicago.     $1. 

A  somewhat  later  work   than  the  preceding.     One  of   the  two  is 
well  worth  while  in  a  high  school  library.     Very  readable. 
Winckler,  Hugo,  Babylonia  and  Assyria.     Scribner.     .$1.25. 

More  recent  in  scholarship  than  Sayce,  but  hardly  so  readable. 

Civilization  in  Ancient  Crete 

Baikie,  James,  Sea  Kings  of  Crete  (handsomely  illustrated).  Mac- 
millan.    $2.     The  best  single  volume  on  the  topic. 

Hawes  and  Hawes,  Crete,  the  Forerunner  of  Greece.  Harper,  New 
York.     $0.75. 

Greek  History 
Source  Material. 

*  Davis,  William  Stearns,  Readings  in  Ancient  History.     This  work  is 

described  in  the  list  for  Oi-iental  history  above.  It  is  particularly 
valuable  for  Greek  history,  and  should  be  the  first  library  material 
purchased  on  that  subject.  The  use  of  it,  however,  will  certainly 
lead  many  students  to  wish  to  know  more  of  certain  ancient  authors 
quoted  in  it ;  and  the  small  list  below  ought  to  be  accessible. 

Aristotle,  On  the  Constitution  of  Athens;  translated  by  Kenyon.  Mac- 
millan.    .$1. 

This  is  the  least  readable  of  the  books  mentioned  in  this  list ;  but 
it  can  be  used  in  parts,  under  a  teacher's  direction. 

Herodotus,  Rawlinson's  translation,  edited  by  Grant ;  two  volumes ; 
Scribner.     $3.60. 


APPENDIX  299 

Macaulay's  translation,  two  volumes.     Macmillan.     84.50. 

*  Homer's  Iliad,  translated  by  Lang,  Leaf,  and  Myers.    Macmillan.    $0.80. 

*  Homer's  Odyssey,  translated  by  Butcher  and  Lang.    Macmillan.    §0.80. 

Translated  by  Palmer.     Houghton.     -SO.To. 
Plutarch,  Lives;  translated  by  Clough ;   Everyman's  Library  (Button, 

New  York)  ;  three  volumes,  each  $0.75. 
Thucydides,  History  of  the  Peloponnesian  War.     Jowett's  translation  ; 

Clarendon  I're.ss,  (.)xford  ;  four  volumes.     83.50.     Or  the  same  edited 

in  one  volume  and  published  by  Lothrop,  Bo.ston.     82.50. 

Everyman's  Library  (Dutton,  New  York)  gives  several  volumes  of 
these  classics  at  cheaper  rates.  Constant  additions  are  made  to  the 
Library.  Herodotus  and  Thucydides  can  be  obtained  also  in  less  de- 
sirable translations,  but  umch  cheaper,  in  Harper's  Classical  Librar}'. 

Modern  Works. 

*  Abbott,  E.,  Pericles  ("  Heroes").     Putnams,  New  York.     81.50. 

Bliimner,  H.,  Home  Life  of  the  Ancimil  Greeks  (profusely  illustrated) 
Cassell.  New  York.     82. 

(Still  valuable  ;  but  if  the  library  is  buying  a  new  book  on  the  sub- 
ject, it  should  get  Gulick,  below). 

*Bury,  J.  B.,  History  of  Greece  to  the  Death  of  Alexander.    Macmillan. 
81. '.to.     The  best  single  volume  on  the  whole  field. 

*  Church,  E.  J.,  Trial  and  Death  of  Socrates.    Macmillan.     $L 

A  translation  of  four  of  Plato's  Dialogues  touching  upon  this 
period  of  Socrates'  life.  They  are  also  the  easiest  of  Plato's  writings 
for  young  people  to  understand.     It  has  valuable  comments. 

Cox,  G.  W.,   (rreeks  and   Persians.     Epochs   Series.      Longmans,    New 
York.     81. 

*  Cox.  G.  W.,  The  Athenian  Empire.     Epochs  Series.     Longmans.     $1. 
Cunningham,  W.,  Western  Civilization  in  its  Economic  Aspects :  Ancient 

Times.     Macmillan.     $1.25. 
The  best  work  on  its  special  phase.     Very  full  for  Greece. 

*  Davis,  William  Stearns,  A  Day  in  Old  Athens.     (At  Press.)     Allyn 

and  Bacon,  Boston. 

A  Victor  of  Salamis  (\\o\^\) .     Macmillan.     §1.50. 

Exceedingly  vivid  presentation  of  Greek  life. 
Gayley,  C.  M.,  Classic  Myths.     Ginn,  Boston.     $1. 

*  Grant,  A.  J.,  Greece  in  the  Age  of  Pericles.     Scribner.    $1. 


300  APPENDIX 

*  Gulick,  Chas.  B.,  Life  of  thf  Ancient  (f recks  (illustrated).     Appleton. 

.•ii;l.4(). 

The  best  treatment;  preferable  to  the  older  one  by  Bliiinner  men- 
tioned above. 
Gardiner,  E.  N.,  Oreek  Athletic  Sports  and  Festiimls  (illustrated).    Mac- 
niillan.     $2.60. 

*  Mahaffy,  J.  P.,  Alexander''s  Empire.    Putiianis,  New  York.    81.50. 
Old  Greek  Life  (Primer).     American  Book  Co.     SO ..35. 

Progress  of  Hellenism  in  Alexander' s  Empire.     University  of  Chi- 
cago Press.     SI. 

*  Wheeler,  Benjamin  Ide,  Alexander  the  Great  ("  Heroes").     Putnams. 

$1.50. 

As  is  said  above,  Bury  is  the  best  single  work  on  Greek  history. 
It  closes  with  the  death  of  Alexander.  Cox"s  little  volumes  in  the 
Epochs  Series  are  slightly  preferable  for  the  Athenian  period  ;  and 
Wheeler's  Alexander  is  admirable  for  its  period.  For  the  age  after 
Alexander,  the  best  book  is  Mahaffy's  Alexander''s  Empire  or  his 
Progress  of  Hellenism. 

These  lists  do  not  contain  nearly  all  the  books  on  Oriental  and 
Greek  history  which  may  well  be  found  in  a  large  high  school  library. 
They  represent  only  such  volumes  as  ought  to  be  constantly  accessi- 
ble to  a  first-year  class  in  the  study.  When  two  books  on  the  same 
field  are  named,  one  of  them  distinctly  preferable  to  tlie  other  (as 
with  Bliimner  and  Gulick  on  Greek  Life),  this  is  done  because  the 
library  may  already  have  the  older  work  —  in  which  case  it  is  not 
worth  while  to  buy  the  other  until  more  pressing  needs  are  well  sup- 
plied.    J%e  starred  volumes  should  be  present  in  multiple  copies. 


INDEX 


Pronunciation,  except  for  the  more  familiar  names  and  terms,  is  indicated 
by  accentuation  and  division  into  syllables.  As  a  rule,  the  simpler  diacritical 
marks  of  Webster's  International  Dictionary  are  used.  The  soft  aspirated 
guttural  g  of  the  German  is  represented  by  g,  the  guttural  ch  by  cA  and  the 
French  n  by  h ;  italics  are  used  to  mark  silent  letters ;  ««  and  <Je  =  e\  ei=  i; 
ea  =  u ;  y  =  i ;  y  =  I.  In  French  words  with  an  accent  on  the  final  syllable, 
that  accent  only  is  marked ;  but  it  should  be  understood  that  in  such  words 
the  syllables  as  a  rule  receivi;  nearly  equal  stress. 

The  index  may  be  utilized  for  reviews  upon  "cross-topics,"  or  topics  that 
call  for  an  arrangement  different  from  that  of  the  text.  The  most  important 
subjects  for  such  review  are  indicated  in  black  Italic. 

The  references  are  to  section.'^. 


Abraham,  founder  of  Hebrew  race,  I  A-ehae'us,  fabled  ancestor  of  Achae- 

os.  I      ans,  111),  b. 

Absolute  monarchy,  in  Egypt,  11 ;  in    A-ehil'les,  110,  112. 


Assyria,  43;  character  of  Oriental, 
80;  in  Cretan  period,  97;  niodifieil 
in  Homeric  Greece,  10.");  reappears 
in  the  tyrants,  126  (see  Pisistratus) ; 
after  Alexander  in  Graeco-Oriental 
world,  280,  304,  note. 

Ab-ys-sln'i-a,  (i;  Abyssinians  in 
Egypt.  <!,  10.     Map,  p.  16. 

Academy,  at  Athens,  182. 

Ac-ar-na'ni-a,  19.").    Map  after  p.  94. 

Ac'cad.  37,  38.     Map  after  p.  12. 

A-ehae'a.  part  of  Athenian  league, 
199.     Maps  after  pp.  94,  98,  198. 

Achaea,   Greece    becomes   Province 

of,  311. 
,A-chaean  culture,  98.  100-112;  eco- 
nomic   side   of,    los-llO;    clan  and 
tribe,    100-102;     government,    10.")- 
107;    overthrown  by  Dorians,  113. 

A-chaean  League,  296-311;  origin, 
;i00;  constitution,  ;501;  first  expan- 
sion beyond  Achaea,  303;  and 
.\ratus,  ;304;  and  Lydiadas,  .%'>; 
and  Athens  and  .\rgos,  30<);  and 
Sparta,  .'507-310;  fall,  311. 

A-chaeans,  mythical  origin  of,  116,  h. 
See  Achaean  culture. 


A-crop'o-lis,  the  central  hill-fort 
about  which  grew  Greek  and  Latin 
cities,  1(1.3. 

Acropolis  of  Athens,  138,  148,  177 ; 
in  Age  of  Pericles,  218-219;  plan, 
p.  209;  view,  p.  210;  "restoration," 
p.  221. 

Adriatic  Sea.  map  after  p.  132. 

"  Ae-ge'an  culture,"  95  ff. 

Aegean  Sea,  73,  84,  85,  d,  95, 114, 
120,  121,  122,  163,  166,  167,  189,  190, 
191,  192,  193,  194,  202,  207,  and  else- 
where. Maps  after  pp.  82,  84,  i>4, 
etc. 

Ae-gi'na,  at  war  with  Athens,  166, 
2<X):  gains  prize  of  merit  at  Sala- 
mis.  ISO.     Map  after  p.  98. 

Ae-gos-p6t'a-mi,  battle  of,  251 ; 
('onon  at.  2.")9.     Map  after  p.  246. 

Ae-o'li-ans,  116,  b. 

Ae'o-lus,  IK),  b. 

Aeschylus  (Cs'ki-lus),  222;  on  Sala- 
mis.  179. 

Ae-to'li-an  League,  299,  310. 

Af-gAan-is-tan',  in  Persian  Empire, 
73 ;  and  .\lexander,  279.  Map  after 
p.  84. 


301 


302 


INDEX 

lieferences  are  to  seHion«. 


Africa,  early  civilizations  in,  (i ;  cir- 
t-iiinnavi^ation  of,  .'{'2;  Phoenician 
sailors  on  coasl  of,  M,  56;  Greek 
colonies  in,  \2'2. 

Agr-a-mSm'non,  kinj;  of  Mycenae, 
87,  107. 

Age  of  Pericles,  l'.i;}-'240. 

"  Age  of  Tyrants,"  l'_'(). 

A-gr6s-i-la'u8,  UiiiK  of  Sparta,  '2')H. 

A'gis,  reforming  king  of  Sparta,  ;W)7. 

Ag'o-ra,  in  Athens.  Map,  p.  202,  and 
description  helow  it. 

Agrarian  laws,  Solon's,  141,  142; 
Agis'  and  Cleomenes',  :}07-309. 

Agriculture,  prehistoric  selection  of 
food  plants,  .'5,  c;  in  Eg>'pt,  17,  18; 
Chaldean,  44 ;  Babylonian  books 
on,  51;  in  Homeric  Greece,  110;  in 
Sparta,  129;  in  Age  of  Pericles,  237, 
238. 

Ahura  Mazda,  78. 

Al-cae'us,  155. 

Al-ci-bi'a-des.  248. 

Alexander  the  Great,  276-286; 
youth  and  character,  276;  accession 
and  restoration  of  order,  277 :  in- 
vades Asia  as  cliampion  of  Hellas, 
278  ff. ;  Persian  campaigns,  278  ; 
in  the  far  East,  279;  results  of 
work,  280  ff . ;  significance  of,  286 ; 
roixte  of  marclies,  map  after  p.  266. 

Alexandria,  name  of  many  Greek 
cities  in  Asia  after  Alexander,  280- 
282.     Map  after  p.  266. 

Alexandria  in  Egypt,  founded.  278: 
glory  of,  293,  312  If. ;  library  at,  319; 
and  lighthouse,  320.  Map  after  p. 
266. 

Alexandrian  Age,  the,  312-327. 

Alexandrian  Library,  319. 

Alexandrian  Museum,  319. 

Alphabet,  growth,  3,  e ;  marks  stage 
of  culture,  10;  germs  of,  in  Egj'p- 
tian  hieroglyphs,  22;  and  Phoeni- 
cians, 56 ;  and  Cretan  writing,  93 
and  especially  96 ;  late  use  in  Greece, 
87,  115. 

Am-phlc'ti-on-ies,  119,  121. 

Am-phic'ty-on-ic  League,  the,  119. 

Am  ten,  statue  of,  page  22. 

An-8,b'a-sis,  257. 


An-aCre-on.  14^;,  1.55. 
An-ax-ag'o-ras,  225,  227. 
An-ax-i-man'der,  l.VJ. 
An-ax-Im'i-nes.  156. 
Ancestor  -worship,  Egypt,  24 ;  Baby- 
lon i;i.  .".3:  (;reek,98,  100,  101. 
Ancient  History,  4;    field  of,  map 

(HI  p.  K. 

Animal  worship,  24. 

An-tal'cl-das,  Peace  of,  260. 

A-pgl'les,  314. 

Aph-ro-di'te,  111. 

A-p61'lo,  100,  111 ;  see  Delphic  Oracle, 
Bclvidcrc. 

A'que-duct,  of  Pi.sistratus,  146:  in 
(iraeco-Oriental  cities,  282. 

A-ra'bi-a,  52,  232 ;  Arabians  in  Egypt , 
10,  ;52;  and  Egyptian  trade,  19; 
modern,  in  Chaldea,  ;35;  language, 
.36. 

A-ra'tus,  general  of  Achaean  League, 
245-2.'>0 :  character  and  services, 
246:  enmity  to  Lydiadas,  247;  be- 
trayal of  Corinth,  2.50. 

Ar-be'la,  battle  of,  278.  Map  after 
p.  2(;(;. 

Ar-ca'di-a,  261, 265.    Map  after  p.  98. 

Arch,  Egyptian,  22. 

Ar-«hi-me'des.  320. 

Architecture,  in  Egypt,  21 ;  in  Chaldea 
and  Assyria,  52;  Persian,  borrowed, 
74;  Oriental,  contrasted  with  Euro- 
pean, 80;  in  Greece,  orders  of,  1.54: 
in  Athens  of  Pericles,  218-220. 

Ar'ehi-travr,  in  Doric  order  of  archi- 
tecture, L54. 

Ar'-ehon,  at  Athens,  134,  135,  144, 
152:  king-archon,  134, 

Ar-e-6p'a-gus,  135,  142. 

A'res,  111 

Ar-gi-nu'sae,  battle  of,  248,  note. 

Ar-giv*  s.  see  Argos. 

Ar'go  lis.  91.    Map  after  p.  98. 

Ar'gos,  persistence  of  kingship  in, 
124;  hostile  to  Sparta,  127 ;  crippled 
by  Sparta,  161;  friendly  to  Persia, 
172 ;  allied  to  Athens  against  Sparta, 
199;  joins  League  against  Sparta, 
2.59:  joins  Achaean  League,  305. 
Maps  after  pp.  9i,  98,  etc. 

Ar-is-tar'-ehus,  320. 


INDEX 

References  are  to  sections. 


303 


Ar-is-ti'des,    Athenian    leader,   170; 

proposes  plan  for  Deliau  League,  191. 
Aristocracy,  definition.  8o;    return 

to  Dorian  Greece,  120;   in  Sparta. 

1'28:  in  Aeiiaean  League,  'Ml. 
Ar-ls-toph'a-nes,  148,  221. 


40;  fall,  41;  contribution  to  govern- 
ment, 40;  religion  and  morality, 
41,  ')3;  society  and  culture,  44-52; 
cuneiform  writing,  47;  art,  52. 

As-tar'te,  '>~. 

Astrology,  Chaldean,  49. 


Ar'is-tot-l*?,  quoted  on  Athenian  his-    Astronomy,  Egyptian,  23:  Chaldean, 
tory,  VM,  14() ;  place  in  philosophy,        49:  Greek,  156,  .320. 


315;  tutor  of  Alexander  the  Great, 

276 ;  Natural  Historij  of,  285 :  proofs 

of  sphericity  of  the  earth,  320. 
Arithmetic,  Egyptian,  23 ;  Chaldean , 

49. 
Ar-me'ni-a,    and    Phoenician    com- 
merce, .").     Map  after  p.  12,  etc. 
Army,   Kgyptian,   12;    Achaean,   113; 

Dorian,  113;    Spartan,  1.30;    citizen  |  Athenian    colonization 

armies  ba.sed  on  wealth  at  Athen.s,  j      uclis. 

137;    Theban   phalanx,  263;    Mace- 1  Athenian  "  Generals."  152,  209. 

doniau,  273.  I  Athenian  juries.  211:   payment  of, 


A  ten.  24. 

A-the'ne.  HI ;  statues  on  the  Acrop- 
olis of  Athens,  21S,  219,  220. 

Athenian  Assembly,  under  Eupatrid 
rule,  i;'".");  constitution  of  classes, 
137 ;  after  Solon,  142,  h,  144,  145,  149 ; 
after  Cieisthenes,  151-1,")2:  of  Peri- 
cles, 210. 

see   Cler- 


Art,  prehistoric,  1;  Egyptian,  21; 
Babylonian,  51,  52;  no  Hebrew,  67; 
Persian,  borrowed,  74 ;  Oriental,  80 : 
Cretan,  96;  no  Spartan,  1130:  Greek, 
of  6th  century,  154,  157;  in  age  of 
Pericles,  217-222;  in  Alexandrian 
Age,  312.  314. 

Ar-tax-erx'e§,  king  of  Persia,  2.57, 
2(!0. 

Ar'te-mis.  111. 

Ar-te-mls'i-um,  battle  of,  176.  Map 
after  p.  98. 

Asia,  see  Oriental  culture  and  geog- 
raphy. 

Asia  Minor,  Assyrians  in,  41 ;  under 
Croesus,  70;  Persia,  172;  Helleniz- 
ing  of  the  coast,  121 ;  Persian  Wars, 
163-164,  189  if.;  Greek  cities  be- 
trayed to  Persia  by  Sparta,  250,  2()0 ; 
Agesilaus  in,  258;  .\lexander  in, 
278;  Gauls  in,  290;  part  of  Graeco- 
Oriental  world,  287  ff. ;  Lyciau  Con- 
federacy, 301. 

As-pa'si-a,  230. 

Assembly,  Homeric  folk-moot,  107; 
Spartan,  128;  in  cities  of  Delian 
League,  191,  1!>4;  Achaean  League, 
:«0,  301.     See  Athenian. 

As'sur-Nat'sir-Pal,  king  of  Assyria, 
inscription  of,  41. 

As-syr'i-a,  35;   Semitic,  .'16;  Empire, 


212. 

Athenian  "  Leaders  of  the  Peo- 
ple "  ((l(')nar/')f/ap.'<).  209. 

Athenian  oratory.  223. 

Athenian  political  capacity,  213, 
214.  229. 

Athenian  senate,  after  Solon,  142,  a ; 
after  Cleistlienes,  l.")2,  210.  See 
Areopagus. 

Athenian  state  pay,  212. 

Athens,  legendary  founding,  103,  132; 
type  of  Ionic  cities,  120  ;  metropolis 
of  Ionia,  121 ;  oligarchy  replaces  old 
kingship,  1.34-137 ;  progress  toward 
democracy,  to  Solon,  137-139  ;  So- 
lon's reforms,  140-143;  factions,  145; 
tyrants,  145-148;  under  Pisi.stratus, 
146;  Cieisthenes'  reforms,  149-1.53; 
and  democracy,  152,  153;  leader  in 
culture  after  (300, 14<i  IT. ;  condition  at 
Persian  attack,  161 ;  part  in  Ionian 
revolt,  H'A,  l(i5;  Persian  heralds, 
167;  Marathon,  167,  168;  from  Mar- 
athon to  Thermopylae,  1()9,  170; 
internal  factions  crushed,  169;  a 
naval  power  170;  at  battle  of  Arte- 
misium,  176 ;  abandoned  to  Persians, 
177;  battle  of  Salamis,  178,  179;  re- 
ceives offers  from  Persians,  181 ; 
building  of  walls,  184,  185;  com- 
merce, 185,  l.Sii;  proposes  League  of 


304 


INDEX 

References  are  to  HeHioriH. 


Plataea,  187;  glory  from  Persian 
War,  188;  assumes  leadership  of 
Asiatic  Greeks,  UK);  Confederacy  of 
Delos,  191-1!^;  Athenian  Empire, 
11»5  IT. ;  jealousy  between  Sparta  and, 
1%;  greatest  extent,  199;  activity, 
200;  power,  204;  population,  205; 
eolonies,  20(i;  revenue,  207;  govern- 
ment, 208-211 ;  "juries,"  211;  state 
pay,  212;  Athenian  political  ability, 
2i;{,  229;  verdict  on  the  empire,  214; 
leaders  and  parties,  215;  Pericles, 
21G;  intellectual  and  artistic  devel- 
opment, 217-232;  theater  money, 
222 ;  tribute  by  Pericles,  229 ;  faults 
in,  2:50,  'I'M  ;  life  in  Age  of  Pericles, 
23:5-240;  houses,  233;  family,  230; 
industries,  237;  banquets,  239;  edu- 
cation, 240 ;  and  Peloponuesian  War, 
241-251;  plague  in,  244;  rule  of  the 
Four  Hundred,  249;  the  "Thirty," 
255;  regains  freedom,  256;  in  new 
league  against  Sparta,  259;  and 
Peace  of  Antalcidas,  260 ;  and  Spar- 
tan treachery,  261 ;  shelters  Theban 
democrats,  2()2;  saves  Sparta,  266; 
and  Macedon,  272,  274,  277;  and 
Achaean  League,  305;  home  of  phi- 
losophy in  Hellenistic  Age,  315,  319; 
and  learning,  312,  319.  Maps  after 
pp.  94,  98,  etc.,  and  on  pp.  180,  189, 
202. 

A'tlios,  Mount,  166;  canal  of,  171. 
Maps  after  pp.  94,  98. 

At'ti-ca,  products,  85;  consolidated, 
103,  132;  see  Athens.  Maps  after 
pp.  94,  98,  etc.,  and  on  p.  180. 

Attic  comedy,  221. 

Ba'al,  .57. 

Babylon,  geography,  34,  35;  one  of 
the  early  city-states,  38 ;  First  Em- 
pire of,  39;  Second,  42;  society  and 
culture,  43-53;  law  and  property, 
45 ;  special  privilege  of  rich  in  law, 
46;  cuneiform  script,  47 ;  literature, 
48 ;  science,  49  ;  legends  of  creation 
and  deluge,  50;  industry  and  art, 
51-52;  religion  and  morals,  53. 
Maps  after  pp.  12,  82,  84,  etc. 

Bac'tri-a,n'a,  279.     Map  after  p.  84. 


Baltic  Sea,  and  Phoenicians,  .54. 

Banquet,  place  of,  in  (ireek  life,  239. 

Barbarian  invasions,  in  Egypt,  10. 31; 
in  Eupliratcs  lands,  :j(),:i8, 41;  Scyth- 
ians (and  Persia),  75;  Gauls  (and 
Graeco-Oriental  world),  29(J. 

"  Barbarians"  (totliefireeks),  116,  a. 

Barter,  trade  by,  in  Egypt,  19;  and 
later,  70. 

Bel'vl-dere,  Apollo,  314. 

Berbers.  10. 

Bible,  tlic,  translated  into  Greek  (Old 
Testament),  319. 

Black  Sea,  and  Phoenicians,  55; 
Greek  colonies  on,  122.  Maps  after 
pp.  82,  84,  etc. 

Bo^-5'tl-a,  cities  of,  and  Thebes,  132; 
early  poets  of,  155 ;  under  Athenian 
control,  199;  falls  away  from 
Athens,  201.  See  Thebes  and 
Plataea.    Maps  after  pp.  94,  98,  etc. 

Bokhara  (boch-ii'ra),  77. 

Bras'i-das,  247. 

Britain,  and  Phoenicians,  56. 

Bronze,  explained,  2. 

Bronze  culture,  in  Egypt,  20 ;  in 
Crete,  96;  displaced  in  Greece  by 
Achaeans,  98,  99. 

By-zan'ti-um.  122;  a  free  city  in 
Graeco-Oriental  world,  288,  289. 
Map  after  p.  132. 

Ca'diz  (Gades),  Phoenician  colony, 
m.    Map  after  p.  132. 

Calendar,  Egyptian,  23. 

Canaan,  60.     See  Palestine. 

Canal  from  Nile  to  Red  Sea,  28;  and 
Neco,  .32;  restored  by  Ptolemies, 
293.     Map,  p.  16. 

Capital,  in  architecture,  154;  illus- 
tration of,  from  Egyptian  temple, 
p.  20:  from  the  Parthenon,  p. 
156. 

Cap-pa-do'cl-ans,  77.  Map  after 
p.  84. 

Ca'rl-ans,  64.     Map  after  p.  84. 

Carpentry,  tools  of,  in  ancient 
Crete.  96. 

Car'thage,  Phoenician  colony,  56, 
160:  and  Greeks  in  Sicily,  160,  181; 


INDEX 

References  are  to  sections. 


305 


held  in  check  by  Athenian  name,  204. 
Map  after  p.  132. 

Cave-men,  1 ;  weapons  of,  2. 

Ceres,  m. 

Cer-y-ne'a,  25)9.    Map  after  p.  98. 

•Ghai-de'a,  eonveuient  but  not  strictly 
proper  name  for  Euphrates  district, 
•■^.").  note.  Map  after  p.  12.  See  Baby- 
lon. 

Champollion  (shon-pol-yoii),  5. 

Charms,  Chaldean,  49. 

■Cheops  (Kliu'fu),  21,  27. 

■Gher-so-ne'sus,  1G9.  Map  after  p. 
132. 

Chiefs,  Council  of,  Hoiaeric,  106; 
origin  of  Spartan  senate,  128;  of 
Athenian  Areopagus,  135. 

China,  early  civilization,  why  not 
studied,  4. 

-Chln'vat  Bridge,  the,  78. 

•ehi'os,  195.     Map  after  p.  94. 

Ci-lic'la,  77.    Map  after  p.  84. 

Ci'mon,  192,  197,  198. 

Circumnavigation  of  Africa,  32. 

City-states,  la  old  Eg^ypt,  11;  in  Eu- 
phrates valley,  37 ;  in  Phoenicia,  55, 
57;  in  Hellas,  103;  the  limit  of  Greek 
political  ideals,  104 ;  decline  and  fall, 
268,  275. 

Citizenship,  Spartan,  129;  Athenian, 
151),  151,  2.")(;. 

Civil  service,  term  df  fined,  extent 
at  Athens,  212  and  nn*e. 

Civilization,  and  oreiiistoric  contri- 
butions, 3:  eaiiy  centers,6,  7:  stages 
of  ("culture"),  10:  characteristics 
'if  Oriental,  79-81:  Oriental  and 
European  (influcnci  of  geography), 
82-86. 

Clan,  in  Homeric  Greece,  100  ff. ;  in 
Athens,  149  ff. 

Cla-z6m'e-nae,26').  Map  after  p.  132. 

Cle-om'e-nes,  re'ormer  at  Sparta. 
308-310. 

Cle'on.  Athenian  leader,  247. 

Cle-opa  tra,  '.H. 

Cler'uchs,  148,  205,  206. 

r'ni-dus,  battle  of,  259. 

Col'chis,  .56.     Map  after  p.  132. 

Colonization,  Phoenician,. 56;  Greek, 
121,  122;    New  Athenian  plan,  148, 


205,206:  in  Graeco-Oriental  world, 
280-282. 

Column,  in  Egyptian  architecture, 
21  ;  Greek,  1.54. 

Commerce,  early  routes,  7 ;  Egyptian, 
19;  Euphrates  states,  38, 51 ;  Phoeni- 
cian, 54-56 ;  and  invention  of  coin- 
age, 70;  early  Cretan,  95 ;  and  Greek 
geography,  85,  a ;  in  Homeric  Greece, 
110;  Athenian,  and  Pisistratus,  146; 
growth  in  Athens,  148,  237;  in 
Graeco-Oriental  world,  284. 

Co'non,  259. 

Cookingr,  in  ancient  Crete,  96;  in 
Greece,  234. 

C6r-cy'ra,  174,  242.  Maps  after  pp. 
94,  98,  etc. 

C6-rIn'na,  155. 

C6r'inth,  and  Periander,  126;  Pan- 
Hellenic  Congress  at,  172;  jealous 
of  Athens,  184,  200,  241 ;  and  Pelo- 
ponnesian  War,  241,  242 ;  jealous  of 
Sparta,  259;  Congress  of,  under 
Philip,  275;  and  Achaean  Confed- 
eracv,  310,  311.  Maps  after  pp.  94, 
98,  etc. 

"Cre'tan  civilization,"  9.3-96;  al- 
phabet, 96. 

Crit'i-as,  255. 

Cri^o.  friend  of  Socrates,  227. 

Croe'sus,  70,  73,  163. 

Culture  (stage  of  civilization),  10. 

Cu-nax'a,  battle  of,  257. 

Cu-ne'i-form  script,  47. 

Cylinder  seals.  Babylonian,  51; 
illustration  of  Persian,  p.  85. 

Cy'lon,  l.".,s. 

Cynic  philosophy,  317. 

Cy-re  ne,  122.     Map  after  p.  132. 

Cyrus  the  Great,  72,  163. 

Cyrus  the  Younger,  257. 

Da-ri'us  Cod-o-mS,n'nu8,  278. 
Darius  the  Organizer,  75,  76,  77,  78. 
Dates,  Table  of,  to  rm  B.C.,  158;  for 

Greek  history,  p.  295. 
David,  king  of  the  Hebrews,  6;^,  64. 
Debt,  laws  concerning,  in  Athens,  I'X, 

141. 
D&c'arch-ies.  under  Spartan  protec- 

tidii,  253. 


306 


INDEX 

Refer enren  are  lo  seclionn 


Delos,  Confederacy  of,  191-194. 

Delos,  plan  of  lioiisi;  from,  uihI  <!«- 
scriplion,  2;W;  island  of,  iiiiip  after 
p.  !I4. 

Delphi,  118;  repulse  of  Gauls  from, 
•I'M).     Maps  alter  pp.  !t4,  98,  etc. 

Delphic  Oracle,  118,  174,  177. 

bemcs.  ill  .Mtica,  1.51. 

De-m6c'rl-tus,  philosopher,  2U5. 

Democracy,  rtefiiiition  of,  85;  germs 
of,  in  Homeric  (Jreece,  107;  tyrants 
pave  way  for,  12(j ;  Greek  conception 
of,  rJ8;  Athens  a  democracy,  142, 
152,  208-214;  Athens  mother  of 
Ionian  democracy,  195;  attempted 
overthrow  in  Athens,  249,  2.")5;  in 
Greece  overthrown  by  Sparta,  2.5.3; 
in  Thebes,  268;  lack  in  Achaean 
League,  '501. 

De-m68'the-nes,  Athenian  general, 
247. 

Demosthenes,  .\thenian  orator,  22.i, 
272. 

Diana,  111. 

Di-6g'e-nes,  the  Cynic,  317. 

Di-o-ny'sus,  god  of  the  vintage,  and 
the  drama,  146,  221 ;  theater  of,  at 
Athens.  222,  223. 

Divination,  Chaldean,  49. 

Domestication  of  animals,  pre- 
historic, 3, /> :  ill  Egypt,  18. 

Do'rians,  invasion,  113;  and  lonians, 
120 ;  mythical  origin,  116,  b  ;  in  Pel- 
oponnesus, 127-13(;). 

Doric  order  of  architecture,  1.54. 

Do'rus,  fabled  ancestor  of  Dorians, 
116,  h. 

Dra'co,  139. 

Drainage  system,  in  Palace  of 
Knossos,  93. 

Drama,  Greek,  146,  153,  221,  222. 

Dress,  Egyptian,  see  illustrations,  pp. 
22  ff . ;  Assyrian,  p.  68 :  Persian ,  p.  87 ; 
Cretan.  96;  Greek,  2m. 

Dying  Gaul,  statue  of,  p.  274. 


Economic  conditions,  detinition  of 
term,  136:  in  Egypt.  12-21;  in 
Chaldea  and  Assyria,  44-46,  51 ;  in 
Cretan  civilization,  97;  in  Homeric 


Greece,  108-110;  in  Sparta,  I2f»;  in 
Athens  at  600  n.c,  136;  Solon's  re- 
forms, 141;  in  age  of  Peri(;les,  237; 
reaction  of  Oriental  conquests  on 
European  Greece,  284;  in  late 
Sparta,  'MHi:  attemjits  at  reform 
by  Agis  and  Cleomenes,  ;J07,  .'508. 

Education  and  learning,  in  Egypt, 
24;  in  Cliald.-a,  47-49;  in  Persia, 
78;  in  Sparta,  139;  importance  of 
(Jreek  theater  for,  222,  223;  in 
Athens  (typical    of   Greece),   240. 

Egypt,  early  history  rediscovered,  5; 
home  of  early  culture,  6;  geogra- 
phy of,  8,  9;  people,  10;  growth  of 
city-states  into  a  kingdom,  11;  so- 
cial classes,  12,  13;  life  of  the 
wealthy,  14;  life  of  the  poor.  15; 
position  of  woman,  16:  irrigation, 
17;  agriculture,  18;  trade,  19:  in- 
dustrial arts,  20:  fine  arts,  21; 
pyramids,  21 :  literature  and  hiero- 
glyphs, 22:  science,  23;  religion,  24; 
idea  of  future  life,  25;  morals.  26; 
story  of  the  pharaohs,  27-3;3;  under 
the  Ptolemies,  293;  Alexandrian 
Age.  312-320.     Map,  p.  16. 

Elections,  in  Sparta,  128;  in  Athens, 
142,   1.52,  210;    in  Achaean  League, 

;}oi,;?02. 
Elgin  marbles,  219. 
Elis,  117.     Map  after  p.  98. 
Elishah,  55. 
E-lys'I-um,  112. 
Embalming.  Egyptian,  25. 
Em-ped'6-cle§.  philosopher,  225. 
Empire,  defined.  37,  close. 
E-pam-i-mon'das,  264-267. 
Eph'e-sus,  122,  15<».     Maps  after  pp. 

94.  98.  etc. 
Eph-i-al'tes,     Athenian     statesman. 

197,  19S. 
Ephialtes.  "  Judas  of  Greece,"  176. 
Ephors.  Spartan.  128,  129. 
Epic  Age.  in  Greece.  155. 
Ep-i-cu-re'an-ism,  316,  317. 
Ep-i-cu'rus,  316. 
E-pi'rus.  85.     Map  after  p.  94. 
Er-a-tos'the-nes.     keeper     of     the 

.\lexandriaii  library,  320. 
Er-ech-the  um.  218. 


INDEX 

References  are  to  section-i 


307 


E  re  tri-a,  ICA,  167.     Map  aftfr  p.  ♦«. 
E-sar-had  don,  40. 
E-tW-6  pl-a,  9,  28,  m,  31.     Map,  p.  H;. 
Eu-boe'a,  122.    Maps  after  pp.  iW,  ;t8, 

etc. 
Eu'clid,  320. 

Eu-pa'trids,  at  Athens,  135-142. 
Eu-phra'tes,  early  home  of  civiliza- 

tiou,6;  "  soul  of  the  land,"  ;34.  Maps 

after  pp.  12,  82,  etc.,  and  on  p.  55. 
Eu-rlp'i-des,  Greek  tragedian,  221. 
Europe,   contrasted   with    Asia,   82; 

typified  by  Greece,  84  ff. 
Eu-rym'e-don.  battle  of  the,  192. 
Experiment,  method  of,  not  known 

to  Greeks,  230. 
Explorations,   in    the    east,  5;    at 

Troy,  iHj;  at  Mycenae,  iU  ;  in  Crete, 

93. 
Ezekiel,  describing  the  grandeur  of 

Tyre,  55. 

Factories,  in  Athens,  237. 
Pire-makingr,  and  prehistoric  man,  3. 
Frieze  (frez),  in  architecture,  154. 

Ga'des,  see  Cadiz. 

Ga-la'ti-a,  290. 

Gauls,  invasion  of  Greece  and  Asia, 
2'.M). 

Ge'lon.  of  Syracuse,  160. 

"General,"  political  administrator 
at  Athens,  152,  20t(;  in  Achaean 
League,  300. 

Gens,  /(/.  gentes,  see  Clan. 

Geography,  and  history,  in  Egypt,  6, 
9, 11 ;  in  Euphrates  regions,  6,  34 ; 
contrasts  between  Europe  and  Asia, 
82,  84;  Greece,  typical  of  Europe, 
85,  86;  influence  of  Mediterranean, 
83. 

Geometry,  Egyptian,  24;  Babylo- 
nian, 49:  later  Greek,  390. 

Gibraltar,  Straits  of,  M,  note.  Map 
after  \>.  1.32. 

Gideon.  (Jl. 

Gor'g-I-as.  .sophist,  225. 

Goshen,  .59. 

Government,  cla.ss  rule  selfish,  125. 
See  Monarchy,  Oligarchy,  Democ- 
racy. 


Graeco-Oriental  world,  the,  280- 
■'i27 :  luingliiu;  nf  East  and  West. 
28i>:  Hellenism  the  active  element 
in,  281;  Greek  cities  in  (the  many 
.\Iexandrias),  282;  reaction  upon 
European  Hellas,  28;i-28«i:  Wars  of 
the  Succession,  287;  third  century 
B.C.  in,  288;  resemblance  to  mouerii 
Europe,  289;  Gallic  invasion,  2^K): 
decline,  291 ;  some  separate  states. 
292-295;  Achaean  League  (whicii 
see)  :  society  and  culture,  312-321. 

Gra-ni'cus,  battle  of  the,  278.  Map 
after  p.  "Jt)!). 

Greek  federations,  age  of,  297 ; 
Aetolian,  298:  Achaean,  2!»i^-311 ; 
Lycian,  Ml;  Olynthiac,  261.  See 
Peloponnesian  League,  Confederacy 
of  Delns,  Rhodes. 

Greek  life,  in  Homeric  Age,  108-110; 
in  Ajic  of  Pericles,  233-240.  See 
Sparta. 

Greek  philosophy,  "  Ionic  "  (sixth 
century),  1.56:  in  Age  of  Pericles, 
225-227:  in  Alexandrian  Age,  315- 
.318. 

Greek  religion,  98,  100-102.  111-112, 
231. 

Greeks,  the,  invasions  into  Egypt 
about  1350  B.C.,  31 :  and  geography, 
82-8(>;  rediscovery  of  prehistoric 
Greece,  87-93:  Cretan  culture,  it4- 
97;  Achaean  culture  (Homeric),  98- 
112;  clan  and  tribe,  100-103;  the 
city-state,  103,  104 ;  government  in 
Homeric  Age,  105-107;  simple  so- 
ciety, 108;  manners  harsh,  109; 
occupations,  110;  Dorian  conquest. 
113;  Phoenician  influence,  114:  gap 
in  our  knowledge,  from  1100  to 
600,  115;  unity  of  feeling  attained. 
11<)-119:  expansion  by  colonization, 
121-123;  disappearance  of  Homeric 
kingship,  124;  "  Age  of  Tyrants," 
12t):  rise  of  Sparta  to  military  head- 
ship, see  Sparta :  rise  oi  democ- 
racy in  Athens,  see  Athens:  art 
and  philosophy  at  600,  154-157 ; 
Persian  Wars  (which  see);  Athe- 
nian leadership,  see  Athens;  Spar- 
tan leadership,  see  Sparta;  Thebaii 


308 


INDEX 

References  are  to  sections. 


leadersliip,  '_'«it-'jr.7 ;  art,  literal iiri-, 
and  pliil().4((|)liy,  in  Af^e  of  Pericles, 
217-'j;{-;  life  and  industries  in  A^e 
of  Pericles,  •J:i.'!-li40 ;  Macedonian 
conquest,  'idlt-'-'To ;  failure  of  the 
city-state,  li(i8,  '27')  ;  in  the  Orient, 
after  Alexander,  '_'H()-'282  ;  reaction 
from  the  Orient,  W.i-2Hr>;  political 
situation  in  third  century,  2i)fi  ;  the 
Achaean  Leaf^ue  (wliich  see) ;  the 
Alexandrian  Age,  312-321. 

Hal-i-car-nas'8U8,  224.  Map  after 
p.  94. 

Ha'lys  River,  70.    Map  after  p.  82. 

Ham-mu-ra'bl,  king  of  Babylon,  3!t ; 
code  of,  4.">-4(!. 

Hanging  Gardens,  of  Babylon,  .52. 

Har'most,  Spartan  officer,  253. 

Hebrew^s,  58-66;  age  of  patriarchs, 
58;  Egyptian  captivity,  31,  59;  set- 
tlement in  Palestine,  60;  the  Judges, 
61;  Kings  and  Prophets,  62;  David 
and  Solomon,  63;  division  and  de- 
cline, 64;  Assyrian  captivity,  40, 
65;  repulse  of  Sennacherib,  from 
Jerusalem,  40;  Babylonian  captiv- 
ity, 42,  65;  return  to  Palestine,  &j, 
78;  priestly  rule,  66;  a  dependent 
state,  66;  the  Maccabees,  66;  mis- 
sion in  history  —  religion,  67,  68. 

Hector,  Trojan  hero,  109. 

Helen,  of  Troy,  87. 

Hellas,  84. 

Hel'len,  mythical  ancestor  of  Hel- 
lenes, 84,  116,  b. 

Hel-le'nes,  84. 

Hellenism  and  Hellenistic,  terms 
explained,  275. 

Hel'les-pont,  the,  166,  171.  Maps 
after  pp.  94,  98,  132,  etc. 

H61'ots,  98,  197. 

Hephaestus  (he-f6s'tus),  111. 

Hera,  in. 

Her-a-clei'tus,  156. 

Her-at',  282. 

Her'cQ-les,  111  note. 

Her'mes,  ill;  statue  by  Praxiteles, 
p.  254. 

He-rod'o-tus,  in  Egypt,  21;  place 
in  literature,  224. 


He'sl-od,  ir>r>. 

Hes'ti-a,    111. 

Hi'er-o-glyphs,  Egyptian,  22;  on 
the  Kcisetta  Stone,  5.  See  Cunei- 
form writing. 

Hlm'e-ra,  battle  of,  181. 

Hindoos,  see  India. 

Hip-par'chus,  son  of  Pisistratus, 
147. 

Hipparchus,  the  scientist,  320. 

Hip'pi-as,  son  of  Pisistratus,  147, 167. 

History,  definition  of,  1,  4;  divi- 
sions, 4. 

HIt'titcs,  7;  and  Egyptians,  32. 
Ma|)S,  ])p.  ,55,  77. 

Ho-mer'ic,  poems,  87. 

Homeric  Age,  the,  see  Achaean 
civilization. 

Hop'lites,  and  political  power,  137. 

Houses,  Egyptian,  14,  15;  in  Eu- 
phrates valley,  52;  in  primitive 
Aegean  civilization,  94;  in  age  of 
Pericles,  233. 

Hyk'sos,  29,  30,  57. 

Hy-met'tus,  146.    Map,  p.  180. 

Hy-per'bo-lus,  247. 

Hy'pha-sis  River,  279.  Map  after 
p.  266. 

H'i-ad,  87. 

Il'i-um,  87. 

lUyria,  270,  277.    Map  after  p.  94. 

Im'bros,  260.    Map  after  p.  94. 

Immortality,  belief  in,  prehistoric 
man,  1:  Egyptian,  25;  Babylonian, 
53;  Persian",  78;  Greeks,  112,  2.31; 
Socrates  on,  227. 

India,  early  civilization  in,  why  not 
studied,  4;  and  Persian  Empire,  73; 
and  Alexander  the  Great,  279. 

Indus,  the,  73.     Map  after  p.  84. 

Industries,  in  Egypt,  18-20;  in  Eu- 
phrates states,  51;  in  Crete,  96;  in 
Homeric  Greece,  110;  in  Age  of  Per- 
icles, 237. 

Ion,  fabled  ancestor  of  lonians,  116,  6. 

I-6'nI-a,  Phoenicians  in,  55;  colonized 
by  Greeks,  121 ;  early  center  of  art 
and  philosophy,  154-157 ;  Persian 
conquest  of,  163;  revolt,  164,  165; 
Persian  War  in,  after  Plataea,  188, 


INDEX 

References  are  to  sections. 


309 


189  ff. ;   calls  Athens  to  leadership, 

190  (see    Confeilerary    of    Delos) ; 
betrayed  to  Persia  by  Sparta.  Ii50, 

lonians,  Greek  "  race,"  mythical  or- 
igin of,  116,  6;  driven  out  of  Pelo- 
ponnesus by  Dorians,  113,  121; 
contrasted  with  Dorians,  120;  colo- 
nization of  Ionia,  121  (see  Ionia) ; 
democracy  among,  120,  195 ;  in  Sic- 
ily, 19"). 

Ionic  order  of  architecture,  \'A. 

I-s6c'ra-tes,  225. 

Iran  (C'-hin"),  Phiteaii  of,  40,  41,  71, 
72.     Map  after  p.  12. 

Iron,  importance  of ,  in  civilization,  2; 
no  manufactures  of,  in  Egypt  until 
800  B.C.,  20;  known  to  Achaeans,9H. 

Irrigation,  in  Egypt,  a  cause  of 
political  union,  11 ;  description  of, 
17;  the  work  of  the  "Middle  King- 
dom," 28;  in  Babylonia,  :>r>. 

Is'e-as,  patriot-tyrant,  299. 

l8-kan'dar,  281.     Map  after  p.  266. 

Israel,  Kingdom  of,  64,  65.  See 
Hebrews.     Map,  p.  77. 

Is'sus,  battle  of,  278.  Map  after  p. 
26(5. 

Italy,  Greek  colonies  in,  see  Magna 
Graecia. 

Ith'a-ca,  maps  after  pp.  94,  98. 

Jacob,  58. 

Javan,  .55. 

Jax-ar  tes  River,  73.  Map  after  p.  84. 

Jeph'thah,  61. 

Jerusalem,  besieged  by  Sennacherib, 
40;  sacked  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  3.5, 
42,  65;  capital  of  Kingdom  of  Judah, 
64.  Maps  after  pp.  12,  82,  etc.,  and 
on  ]).  77. 

Jews,  see  Hebrews. 

Joseph,  12,  59. 

Joshua,  (K). 

Judah,  Kingdom  of,  64  ff.  Map  on 
p.  77.     See  Hebrews. 

Judea,  see  Hebrews  and  Judah. 

Judges,  of  Hebrews,  61. 

Juno,  HI. 

Jiapi-ter.  111. 

Jury,  Athenian,  211 ;  pay  for,  212. 


Kan-da-har',  282.     Map  after  p.  266. 
Kar'nak,  temple  at.  21.     Map,  p.  16. 
King-priest,  in  Atiu-ns,  l:!4. 
Kingship,   see    .\l)sohite   Monarchy. 

(irt'i-k.  ill  Ilonicric  .\ge,  105. 
Kitchen  utensils,  in  ancient  Crete, 

'.Hi.     Ilhistration  on  p.  113. 
Kit  i-on,  ,55. 
Knossos,  Palace  of,  93,  96;  fall,  97. 

See  Cretan  Civilization.     Map  after 

p.  12. 

Labor,  .see  .Xgrieulture,  Industries. 

Lac-e-dae-mo'ni-ans,  see  Sparta. 

La-co'ni-a,  Spartan  supremacy  in, 
127;  chisscs  in,  129.  Map  after  p. 
9S. 

Landholding,  in  Egypt,  12;  in  Chal- 
dea,  44;  in  Sparta,  129;  Cleomenes' 
reforms  in,  30(>-;308 ;  in  early  Ath- 
ens, 13«>;  Solon's  reforms  concern- 
ing, 141 ;  in  Age  of  Pericles,  237, 
23S. 

Language,  prehistoric  development, 
;■>,  (i,-  race  and,  :56,  cdose  ;  Semitic,  i6.,* 
unity  of  (ireek,  116,  a;  in  Graeco- 
Oriental  world,  281,  282. 

La-6c'o-on,  statue  and  story  of,  p. 
2!  HI. 

Laws,  Bal)ylonian,  45,  46;  of  "Ly- 
curgus,"  .'lO;  of  Draco,  139;  of  Solon, 
141-14.3. 

Lay'ard,  47. 

Leaders  of  the  People,  in  Athens, 
209. 

Lebanon  Mountains,  map  on  p.  77. 

Lem'nos,  2f)0,     Maps  after  pp.  94,  98. 

Le-6n'i-das,  176. 

Le-o-ty-eh'i-des,  189. 

Lesbos.  1.")."),  I'.tj.     Map  after  p.  !>4. 

Leuctra,  battle  of,  263.  Map  after 
p.  9S. 

Libations,  in  Greek  worship,  101. 

Libraries,  Babylonian.  47.  48;  in 
Graeco-Oriental  world,  282;  at  Al- 
exandria, 319. 

Literature,  Egyptian,  22;  Chaldean, 
48-50;  sjiread  over  Syria,  .38;  He- 
brew, <»7;  Oriental  contrasted  with 
European,  80;  early  Greek  Epic 
Age,   87,   155;    in   Athens  of  Pisis- 


310 


INDEX 

References  are  to  sections. 


ti'iitus,  14<J;  Lyri(^  Age,  ISrc  drama, 
14<i,  155,  221-'22'2,  .{I.'i;  tlio  A'^e  of 
Pericles,  221-224;  Alexandrian  Af^e, 

.•n2-:n:i 

L5'crls,  map  after  j).  H2. 

Long'  Walls  of  Athens,  lifj  (plan, 
p.  IH'J) ;  dt-niolishetl,  •Jr)4 ;  rebuilt,  259. 

Lot,  use  i)f,  ill  elections,  142. 

Louvre  (iriovr),art  museum  iu  mod- 
ern Paris. 

Lyci-an  Confederacy,  ;«)1. 

Ly-cur'grus,  127,  \'M). 

Lydi-a,  70,  72.     Map  after  p.  82. 

Ly-di'a-das,  ;!()4.  .iO't. 

Lyric  Age,  in  (ireek  poetry,  155. 

Ly-san'der,  247,  251. 


Mac'ca-bees,  the,  (Kj. 

Mac-e-do'nia,  map  after  p.  94;  sub- 
ject to  Persia  in  500,  165 ;  under 
Theban  influence,  2W) ;  and  Philip 
II,  2t)9-270;  expansion  by  Philip, 
270-271;  army,  273;  conquest  of 
Greece,  274-275 ;  under  Alexander, 
see  Alexander;  after  Wars  of  the 
Succession,  one  of  three  Great  Pow- 
ers, 287,  294 ;  decline  at  220  B.C.,  291 ; 
and  Achaean  League,  296,  310. 

Macedonian  Army,  273. 

Magic,  Clialdean,  49. 

Magism  (Persian),  78. 

Magna  Graecia,  122.  Map  after  p. 
132. 

Man-ti-ne'a,  broken  up  into  villages 
by  Sparta,  261;  restored,  265;  bat- 
tle of.  267.     Map  after  p.  258. 

Manufactures,  see  Industries,  Fac- 
tories. 

MS,r'a-thon,  battle  of,  167;  impor- 
tance, 167.  Maps  after  pp.  94,  98, 
and  on  pp.  170.  171,  180. 

March  of  the  Ten  Thousand,  257. 

Mar-do'nI-us.  l(i(i,  1(;7,  ISI,  182. 

Marriage,  Greek,  100;  in  Age  of  Per- 
icles, 235. 

Mas-sn'i-a,  122.    Map  after  p.  132. 

Medes.  41,  71. 

Me'di-a,  see  Medes.     Map  on  p.  55. 

Med-i-ter-ra'ne-an  Sea,  importance, 
83. 


Meg-a-16p'o-li8,  26.5,  :W4.  Vlaps 
after  i)|).  '.)H,  2.W. 

M6g'a-ra,  captures  Salamis  froiu 
Athenians,  140;  Athenian  alliance, 
199;  treachery  of,  201 ;  commercial 
interests,  241 ;  enters  Achaean 
League,  ;«)4.     Maps  after  pp.  98  198. 

M&m'phis.  11.     Map,  p.  16. 

Me-nSn  der,  313. 

Men-e-la'us,  87,  92. 

Me'nes,  king  of  Egypt,  11,  27. 

Me'sheck.  .">.  . 

Mes-o-po-ta'mi-a,  ;}5.  Map  after  p. 
12. 

Mef -se'ne,  265.     Map  after  p.  258. 

xvles-se'ni-a,  127,  196.  Map  after  p. 
98. 

iVIet'o-pe,  154. 

Metropolis,  of  a  Greek  colony,  123. 

Mi-le'tus,  121,  122.  Maps  after  pp. 
IH,  98,  etc. 

Mil-ti'a-des,  167,  169. 

Mi'nos.  of^Drete,  93. 

3/nes'i-cles,  218. 

Monarchy,  definition,  85.  See  Abso- 
lute monarchy.  Kingship,  Tyrants. 

Money,  no  coinage  iu  ancient  Egypt, 
19;  nor  in  Euphrates  civilizations, 
70 ;  coinage  in  Lydia,  70 ;  ii'on  at 
Sparta,  130;  Solon's,  at  Athens,  143; 
abundant  iu  Greece  after  Alexan- 
der, 284. 

Morality,  Egyptian,  24-26;  Chaldeau 
and  Assyrian,  36,  41,  45,  46,  53; 
Hebrew,  67,  68;  Persian,  78;  Greek, 
86,  226,  227,  231. 

Moses,  (iO. 

Mount  Athos,  166,  171.  Map  after 
p.  iH. 

"Mountain."  the.  iu  Athens,  145. 

Museum  (mii-se'um),  Plato's,  at 
Athens.  319;  Ptolemy's,  at  Alex- 
andria, 319. 

Myc'a-le,  battle  of,  189.  Map  after 
p.  94. 

My-ce'nae,  91.  Map  after  p.  94. 
Gate  of  Lions  at.  illustration  on  p. 
105:  bronze  dagger  from,  p.  104. 

Mycenaean  Culture,  term  ex- 
plained, 94.    See  Cretan  civilization. 

Myths,  Greek,  111. 


INDEX 

References  are  to  sections. 


311 


Nahum,  on  fall  of  Assyria,  41. 
Nature     -worship,     Egyptian,     24; 

Chaldean,  5.i;  Greek,  !•«,  111. 
Nau-pac'tus,  195.    Map  after  p.  (»«. 
Nau-slc'a-a,  108. 
Navy,  growth  of  Athenian,  170,  176, 

178,  18«i;   skill  with,  242,  24fi.     See 

Trirciiie. 
Nax'os,  195.     Maps  after  pp.  iM,  98, 

I'.ts. 
Ne-8,p  o-lis,  195. 
Ne-ar'chus,  285;  route  of,  map  after 

p.  2(i(). 
Neb-u-€had-n§z'zar,  42 ;  prayer  of, 

58. 
Ne'co,  king  of  Egypt,  32. 
New  Stone  Age,  2. 
NIc'l-as,  247,  248. 
Nile.  9.    Map,  p.  16. 
Nineveh,  37,  40,  41 ;    palace  of,  de- 
scribed, 52;  commerce  of,  51.    Map 

after  p.  12. 

Ob-sld'i-an,  95. 

Odeum.  218. 

O-dys'seus,  87,  92,  107,  108,  110,  112. 

Od'ys-sey,  87. 

Oe-no'phy-ta,  battle  of,    199.     Map 

after  p.  246. 
Old  Stone  Age,  2. 
Oligarchy,  detiuition  of,  85;  origin  in 

Greece,  124 ;  overthrown  by  tyrants. 

125;  in  Athens,  135-139;  overthrow 

in   Athens,  141-142;    .struggle   with 

democracy  in   Greece,  159;    set   up 

by  Sparta  in  subject  cities,  253;  in 

Thebes,  see  Thebes. 
O-lym'pi-a,  117.     Map  after  p.  98. 
Olympiad,  116. 
Olympias,  276. 
Olympic  games,  116. 
Olympus,  111.     Map  after  p.  94. 
O-lyn'thi-ac  Confederacy,  261, 297. 
Olynthus,  122.     Map  after  p.  94. 
Oratory,  in  Greece  and  Athens,  22.3. 
Oriental    history,   introductory    to 

(4reek  history,  4;  summary  of,  7V>- 

«1. 
Ostracism,  153 ;  of  oligarchic  leaders 

at  Athens,  169 ;    of  Aristides,  170 ; 

of  Cimon,  198. 


Oxus  River.  279.     Map  after  p.  84. 
O-zy-man'di-as,  p.  11. 

Painting,  Egyptian,  21;  Greek,  154, 
Mi. 

Palestine,  60.     Map,  p.  77. 

Pallas  Athene,  see  Athene. 

Pam-phyli-a,  192.    Map  after  p.  132. 

Pan-Hellenic  Confederation,  pro- 
posed by  Athens,  187,  188. 

Papyrus,  5. 

Pa'ros.  169.     Map  after  p.  94. 

Par  rAa'sius,  314. 

Parthenon,  219,  220.  See  plan  ol 
Acropolis,  p.  209,  and  illustrations, 
pp.  156,  158,  212. 

Par'thi-ans,  278. 

Patriarchs,  Hebrew,  58. 

Pau-sani-as,  king  of  Sparta,  190. 

Peace  of  Antalcidas,  260. 

Peasantry,  Egyptian,  15,  18;  Chal- 
dean, 44;  Greek,  in  Age  of  Pericles, 
237. 

Pediments,  in  architecture,  1.54. 

Pe-16p'i-das,  262. 

Pel-o-pon-ne  si-an  League,  162. 

Peloponnesian  War.  241-251. 

Pel-o  pon-ne'sus,  map,  p.  165. 

Pe-na'tes.  101. 

Pen-tel'i-cus.  167.     Map  on  p.  180. 

Per'ga-mos.  29.">,  312. 

Peri  g,n  der,  126. 

Per  i-cles.  197,  19S.  I'.Kt,  200,  202  ff. 

Per-sep  6-lis,  71.     Map  after  p.  84. 

Persian  Gulf,  maps  after  pp.  12,  82, 
H4,  etc. 

Persian  Wars,  l.")i>-183,  187-193,  200- 
202,  2.").s-2(i0  ;  the  antagonists,  15'.^- 
161 ;  conquest  of  Ionia,  163  ;  revolt 
of  Ionia  and  Athenian  aid.  lt>4 ;  first 
two  attacks  on  Greece,  165-167 :  re- 
lation of  Ionian  revolt  to  Persian 
attack,  165;  first  expedition.  Mount 
.\thos,  Vi^^\  second  expedition, 
Marathon,  167;  from  Marathon  to 
Thermopylae  in  Athens,  168-170; 
the  third  attack,  171-183;  Persian 
preparation,  171;  Greek  prepara- 
tion, 172;  Greek  lines  of  defense 
and  plan  of  campaign,  173, 174 ;  loss 
of  Thessaly,  175 ;  Thermopylae,  loss 


312 


INDEX 

References  are  to  sections. 


of  central  Greece,  17(5 ;  Htrat(!f;y  (if 
Th<!mist()cl(;s,  17S;  battle  of  Sala- 
niis,  170;  temptation  of  Atlicn.s, 
IHl  ;  Plataea,  IH'i;  meaning  of  Greek 
vietory,  \H'^;  ieaniio  of  I'lataoa, 
1H7;  war  to  fre(!  Ionia,  I89-lit2; 
peace,  '201;  war  I'cvivc^d  in  Asia, 
2.")H-2r)it;  peace  of  Aiitalci<las,  'J(K). 

Phaed'rus,  J.'VJ. 

Phalanx,  'I'heban,  '2(iU;  Macerlcmian, 
•i7:!. 

Pha-le'rum,  l.s.-).     Map,  p.  18i». 

Pha'roohs,  of  Kjiypt,  12. 

Pharos,  lighthouse  on,  320. 

Phld'i-as,  220. 

Phi-dlp'pi-deg,  1G7. 

Philip  II,  kinK  of  Macedonia,  270; 
iiims  anil  methods,  271 ;  army,  273; 
invades  Greece,  274;  assassinated, 
276. 

Philip  V.  of  Macedon,  2!)3. 

Phi-lip'pics,  of  Demosthenes,  272. 

Phi-lls'tin  s.  i;i.     Map,  p.  77. 

Phil-o  poe'men,  'Ml. 

Philosophy,  see  Greek  Philosophy. 

Pho'cis,  maps  after  pp.  94,  98. 

Phoe-ni'cians,  54-.57 ;  influence  on 
Greece,  114.     Map  on  p.  77. 

Phor'mi-o,  246. 

Phra'try,  the  Greek,  102. 

Phryg-'i-a,  maps  after  pp.  82,  84. 

Physical  Geography  as  a  factor  in  his- 
torical development,  6,  7,  9,  10,  11, 
23,  34,  .35,  52,  54,  58,  82,  83,  84,  85,  86, 
120,  133. 

Pillars  of  Hercules,  56.  Map  after 
p.  i:!2. 

Pindar.  l.'(5,  277. 

Pi  rae'us.  185.     Map,  p.  189. 

Pis-l3'tra-tus,  146. 

Plague,  at  Athens,  244. 

"  Plain,"  the.  party  in  Athens.  145. 

Pla  taea,  aids  Athens  at  Marathcm, 
167;  battle  of,  182,  183;  League  of, 
1S7.     Maps  after  pp.  'M,  98,  etc. 

Plato,  :;i5,  :!19. 

Plutarch,  l.>0;  (luoted  frequently. 

/'nyx,  210.     Map,  p.  202. 

Pole-march,  134. 

Political,  term  explained,  104,  note. 

Pontus,  Kingdom  of,  288. 


Po-sei'don,  111. 

Post  roads,  I'ersian,  77.     Map  after 

1).  81. 

Pottery,  significance  of,  in  cultiire, 

10;  vvlicfd  a  Babylonian  invention, 

51;    in   Gretan    (civilization,   95,    '.Hi. 

Many  illustrations  of,  and  of  Greek 

jiairiting  on,  jxtxsim. 
Prax-it'e-les,  220. 
Prehistoric  time,    1;     ages   of.    2; 

contributions   to   civilization,  3;  in 

I*'gypl.  10;  in  (}rce(;e,  87-97. 
Priests,    of    Egypt,   12;  of    Ilt^brews, 

66;  in  early  Greece,  see  King-priest. 
Prophets,  Hebrew,  62. 
Prop-y-lae'a,  of  Acropolis,  218,  and 

illustration,  p.  211. 
Pro-tec'to-rate,  term  explained,  293. 
/'sam-met'i-chus,  Pharaoh,  32. 
/'tolemy  I,  of  Egypt,  293. 
/'tolemy  II  (Philadelphus),  293,  319, 

;!20. 
Ptolemy  III,  228,  note,  293.     Pylon 

of,  p.  276. 
Pul,  see  Tiglath-Pileser  11. 
Pyramids,  Egyptian,  21. 
Py-thag'o-ras,  156. 

Ra-me'ses  II,  .30. 

Red  Sea,  maps  after  pp.  12,  82,  etc. 

Re-ho-bo'am,  ()4. 

Relief  sculpture,  definition  of,  page 
18,  note;  specimens  of  Egyptian, 
Assyrian,  and  Greek,  in  illustra- 
tions, passim. 

Religion,  Egyptian,  24-26 :  Chaldean, 
53;  Assyrian,  45,  53;  Phoenician, 
57;  Hebrew,  67,  68;  Persian,  78; 
Oriental,  80 ;  in  Greece,  98,  100-102, 
111,  112,  118,  119,  227,  231,  232.  See 
(jreek  Philosophy. 

Representative  government,  not 
a  feature  even  of  the  Greek  federa- 
tions, :!01. 

RAe'gi-um.  195.     Map  after  p.  1.32. 

R/(6des,  maps  after  pp.  iU,  132.  Con- 
federacy of,  288;  center  of  Hellen- 
istic culture.  .312. 

Ro-set'ta  Stone,  5. 

Sa'is,  :'.2.     Map  on  p.  16. 

Sal'a-mis,   Athenian    war    for,   140; 


INDEX 

Referencex  are  to  sections. 


313 


battle  of,  178-180;  signirtcance  of, 
183.  Maps  after  pp.  94,  !»8,  and  on 
p.  180. 

Samaria,  40.     Map,  p.  77. 

Sa'mos,  150,  195.  Maps  after  pp.  94, 
9S,  I'll'. 

Samson,  (II. 

Samuel,  til. 

Sappho  (.siif'o),  15."). 

Sar'dis,  70;  biirm-fl  in  Ionian  Revolt, 
1»)4.     Maps  aft.M-  i)p.  82,  84. 

Sargon,  the  Elder,  .'W. 

Sar'gon,  of  Assyria,  40. 

Satraps,  introduced  by  Assyrians,  40 ; 
adopltjd  by  Persia,  7(5. 

Saul,  f)2. 

Schllemann  (.shle'miin),  life  of,  89; 
discoveries  of,  90,  91 ;  importance, 
92. 

Schools,  in  .\ge  of  Pericles,  240. 

Science,  Egyptian,  215;  Chaldean,  49; 
early  Greek,  related  to  philosophy, 
156;  in  the  age  of  Pericles  still 
bound  up  with  philosophy,  225;  lack 
of  method  of  experiment,  230;  Alex- 
andrian Age,  320. 

Sculpture,  Egyptian,  21;  Chaldean, 
52;  Assyrian,  52;  Oriental  con- 
trasted with  European,  80;  Greek, 
154,  218-220;  in  Graeco-Oriental 
world,  314.     See  Relief  sculpture. 

Scy'ros,  2f)0.     Maps  after  pp.  94,  98. 

Scyth'i-ans,  in  Assyria,  63;  repulsed 
by  P(!rsians,  75. 

Se-ges'ta,  195.     Map  after  p.  132. 

Se-leu'cu8,  general  of  Alexander,  and 
king  of  Syria,  292. 

SSm'itfS,  'M\. 

Semitic  language,  3(5. 

Sen-n&ch'e-rib,  4(). 

Sep'tu-a-gint,  .JHt. 

Shaft,  use  in  architect nre,  1,54. 

"  Shaking  off  of  Burdens."  141. 

"  Shore,"  the,  party  in  Athens,  145. 

Sicily,  (ireck  colonics  in,  122:  Car- 
thaginian War  in,  159,  160;  Atlic- 
nian  disaster  in,  248. 

Sicyon  (sTsli'i-on)  and  Aratus,  299. 
Maps  after  pp.  !>4,  98,  etc. 

Si'don,  55.     Map  after  p.  12. 

Si-m6n'i-des,  155. 


Slavery,  Egyptian,  12:  Greek,  in 
Sparta,  129;  in  Athens,  205,  230, 
237. 

Soc'ra-tes,  the  man,  226;  teachings, 
225;  on  immortality,  227. 

Sog-di-a'na,  nuip  after  p.  84. 

Solomon,  6.5,  64,  7(),  note. 

Solon,  ami  a  priest  of  Sais,  23;  and 
overthrow  of  Enpatrids,  140-144. 

Sophists.  225. 

S6ph'o-cles,  221. 

Spain,  and  Phoenicians,  56. 

Sparta,  leading  Dorian  city,  120; 
kings  in,  128;  early  history,  127; 
governinent,  128;  classes  of  people 
in  Laconia,  129;  "Spartan  train- 
ing," 130;  and  Persian  Wars,  161, 
162,  164,  1(!7,  172  ff. ;  delays  and 
loss(!S  thereby,  167,  175,  176,  181; 
strife  with  Athens,  liMi-201 :  Messe- 
nian  revolt,  197  ;  Peloponnesian  War, 
241-251;  supremacy  in  (ireece,  25;i- 
263;  Leuctra,  263;  and  Thebes,  2(55- 
267;  decay  and  need  of  social  re- 
form, 306;  Agis  and  Cleomenes, 
307-;308;  aiul  Achaean  I..eague,  309. 
Maps  after  pp.  94,  98,  etc. 

Sphinx,  21. 

State,  definition,  11,  note. 

Stoics,  317. 

Stone  Age,  the,  1,  2,  3;  iiv  Egypt, 
10:  in  Aegean  islands,  95. 

Susa,  map  after  p.  84. 

Syracuse,  248.    Map  after  p.  132. 

Syria,  7.  Map  after  p.  12,  and  on 
p.  55.  Kingdom  of  Syria  (in  Graeco- 
Roman  world),  291. 

Tal'mud,  the,  49  and  note. 
Tan'a-gra,  battle  of,  200.    Map  after 

p.  '.IS 

Ta-ren  tum,  122.     Map  after  p.  132. 

Tarshish,  55. 

Tar'tar-us.  112. 

Tar  tes'sus,  .55. 

Taurus  Mountains.  Maps,  pp.  45,  .55. 

Taxation,  lOgyptian,  12,  15;  Hebrew, 

64  :   Athenian,  195. 
T6m'pe,  Vale   of,  174.     Map  after 

1-.  94. 
Temple  of  Solomon,  63. 


314 


INDEX 

References  are  to  terUnnn. 


Temples,  Egyptian,  21;  Chaldfan 
and  Assyrian,  52;  plan  of  (irecfk, 
154.  See  Partlienon,  Wingless  \'ic- 
loi-y,  Tower-temples. 

TenThousandGreeks,  niarcli  of  ,257. 

Thales,  15(;,  ](i4. 

Tha'aos.  ll«;.     Map  after  p.  94. 

Theaters,  <ireek,  222;  Pericles'  pol- 
icy as  to.  222. 

Thebrs,  in  Kgypt,  11.     Map  on  p.  16. 

ThebfS,  in  (Jreece,  limited  leadership 
in  Boeotia,  132;  at  war  witli  Athens, 
Kil ;  refuses  to  attend  Congress  at 
Corinth,  101 ;  welcomes  Xerxes,  17(5; 
war  with  Sparta,  259;  Democracy 
in,  262;  Leuctra,  263;  supremacy, 
264-267;  Epaminondas,  264;  over- 
throw, 267 ;  destroyed  by  Alexander, 
277.     Maps  after  pp.  94,  98,  etc. 

The-mls'to-cles.  170,  177,  178,  180, 
1S4,  1.S5,  186,  197. 

The-6c'ri-tus.  313. 

The-6g'o-ny.  of  Hesiod,  155. 

Ther-m6p'y-lae.  173,  174;  battle  pf7 
17(>.  177.     Maps  after  pp.  94,  98.    ^  . 

Ther-si'te§,  107. 

Theseus,  10(),  111,  note. 

Thes'pis,  146,  155,  221. 

Thessaly,  map  after  p.  !.V4. 

Thirty  Tyrants,  the,  at  Athens,  255, 

•_'.'lti. 

Thirty  Years'  Truce,  the,  between 
Athens  and  Sparta,  202. 

Thrace,  part  of  Per.sian  Empire,  73, 
165;  colonized  by  Chalcis,  122:  Athe- 
nian colonies  in,  148.  Maps  after 
pp.  S4.  94.  132,  etc. 

Thrasybulus  (thras-i-b(K)'lus),  256. 

Thucydides  (thoo-cid'i-dez),  224; 
quoted,  129,  184,  299. 

Thutmosis  (thoot-mo'sis)  III,  30. 

TIg-'lath-Pi-le'ser  I,  40. 

Tiglath-Pileser  II,  40. 

Tigris-Euphrates  states,  34-53 : 
Alexander  in, 278. 

Tigris  River,  ;U.  Maps  after  pp.  12, 
.S2,  etc. 

To-gar'mah,  55. 

Totem-ism,  Egyptian,  24. 

Tower-temples,  40,  41. 

Tribes,  in  early  Greek  society,  102. 


Tributary  state,  definition  of,  11, 
note. 

Tri'glyph,  155. 

Trireme,  200,  note. 

Troy,  story  of  siege  of,  87;  excava- 
tions at,  <K).     Map  after  p.  132. 

Tubal,  .55. 

Tyrants,  Greek,  125,  126:  in  Athens, 
14(),  147:  setup  by  Persia  in  Ionia, 
1<^4;  set  up  l)y  :^Ia<;edonia,  296. 

Tyre,  .55,  .57 ;  siege  of,  277.  Map  after 
pp.  12,  1.32. 

Tyr-tae'us,  1.55. 

Universities,  origin,  319;  in  Alex- 
andrian Age,  319. 

Ur,  in  Chaldea,  37,  38.  Map  after  p. 
12. 

U'tl-ca,  founded  by  Phoenicians,  56. 
Map  after  p.  132. 

Vaph'i-o  cups,  the,  illustration  on 

p.  108. 
Venus,  111;  of  Melos,  314. 
Vesta.  111. 
Vulcan,  111. 

Wars  of  the  Succession,  287. 

Wheat,  prehistoric  cultivatirm,  3,  c; 
native  to  Euphrates  district,  55. 
See  ,\griculture. 

Wing-less  Victory,  temple  of,  218; 
illustration,  p.  159. 

Woman,  position  of,  in  Egypt,  16;  in 
Chaldea  and  Assyria.  45;  in  the 
court  of  King  INIinos,  96:  in  early 
Greece,  2.30:  in  Sparta,  130;  in 
Athens,  2.30,  233,  235.  2.38.  239. 

"  Works  and  Days,"  of  Hesiod,  155. 

Writing,  stages  in  invention,  3,  e. 
See  Alphabet,  Hieroglyphs,  Cunei- 
form. 

Xe-noph'a-nes.  156. 
Xen'o-phon.  224,  257. 
Xerxes,  169,  171,  178,  181. 
Xuthus  (z(X)'thus),  116,  6, 

Zend-A-v§s'ta,  78. 
Zeus,  111. 
Zeux'is,  314. 
Zor-o-Ss'ter,  78. 


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